Young Justice: Cavalry
by Cryptic-Case
Summary: On March 23rd at 10 pm, Mount Justice fell. Three members of the team were taken. All seemed lost. But, just as a phoenix is reborn from the ashes, new heroes will rise up to fight. Some are old friends and some come from odd places. As long as the world still believes in heroes, they will fight. The cavalry is coming.
1. Rise from the Ashes

Hi everyone! I am Cryptic-Case and this is my first (of possibly many) in-depth Young Justice story. I had an idea for this plot and decided to write it out and incorporate some people who haven't been in the show yet. I do hope to try to update _at least_ once a week, but I will be honest and say that schooling may get in the way of updates. I apologize if it takes me a while to update. Other than that, I hope you enjoy and can't wait to write more!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice, nor do I own any of the other characters mentioned in this story. (an OC _may_ pop up in the story later on, but I'm not a hundred percent sure yet)**

**PLEASE NOTE: This WILL be an AU as of Young Justice: Invasion's recent episode "Darkest".**

* * *

The young woman sighed and shook her head as she sat in her car. She'd asked herself multiple times during this trip _why_ she'd decided to come back to the East Coast in the first place. Then again, it wasn't like she's gone back to Gothem of all places. Happy Harbor seemed to be much more mellow than that hell hole she'd escaped from years ago.

The girl tugged her long blonde hair back into a ponytail and got out of her car. She figured it was no use sitting around and moping, might as well see what this town had to offer. Just as she pulled out her keys to lock the car, a load explosion shook the ground. She spun around and was shocked to see smoke and fire coming from the beach area.

"Well, that's something you don't see everyday." she muttered.

Suddenly, a static noise coming from her bag was heard. She raised a brow and searched for the source, thinking it was her phone. She felt her blood run cold and her heart drop when her hand closed around a small communicator that hadn't been touched in year. She could only make out a few words.

"Duncan...Mount Justice...gone...a big explosion...request immediate assistance!"

The words shocked her so much that she almost dropped the communicator. A thought finally came to her. She spun around to face the pillar of fire behind her. That had to be the explosion. The _Mount Justice_ explosion. She could only assume the guy sending the backup request was nearby.

The girl looked around her and saw a dark motorbike speeding towards the explosion sight. That _had _to be him. She swore under her breath and quickly got into her car. She started the car and took off.

"You said you were gonna leave this crap behind you." she scolded herself.

She caught a glimpse of her own tired blue eyes in the rear view mirror and smirked slightly. "Let's go be a hero."

_~~~"No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks. -Molly Wollstonecraft~~~_

"Conner!" Mal yelled. "Superboy, wake up!"

He splashed water in Conner's face and gave a slight breath of relief when he woke up. Conner looked around in confusion.

"Questions later, man! Grab Wolf, the S-Cycle's sinking!" Mal said.

"Ah, right!" Conner said. He grabbed Wolf and slipped into the water. Sphere folded in on herself and dove underwater.

"Will Sphere be alright?" Mal asked as Conner swam towards him.

"Uh, yeah, I think so. She folds up to heal." Conner looked at Mal. "Can you make it to shore with Nightwing?"

"Yeah, I got him." Mal assured. He tightened his grip on the younger male and began to swim to shore.

When they were almost to shore, Mal looked over at Conner.

"What the hell happened, man?" Mal panted.

Conner didn't answer right away. Finally, he looked up with anger in his eyes.

"Kaldur. He came to the cave and brought a bomb. We thought it was a bluff. If we had known..."

Mal felt his heart drop into his stomach. "What about Beast Boy?"

Conner gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. "Kaldur took him. He took Gar, he took Impulse, and he took Blue."

Mal almost stopped swimming. No, they couldn't be gone. His teammates, his_ friends_, could _not_ have been taken by that...that _traitor_.

"We _will_ get them back," Mal growled, finally feeling the shallows beneath his feet. "and Aqualad _will_ pay."

Conner nodded silently. As they reached the shore, they looked at the flaming debris. It was shocking, the place that had become their home was just _gone._

"What do we do now?" Conner whispered, holding Wolf in his arms.

Mal closed his eyes for a brief moment. Once he'd regained composer, he looked at Conner.

"First thing's first, we need to get Nightwing and Wolf somewhere safe."

Conner nodded in agreement. The sudden honking of a car horn made both of the men jump. A black Navigator pulled up to the wreckage.

"Do you know who that is?" Conner asked.

"No idea." Mal murmured. He hoisted Nightwing over his shoulder and began to make his way to the car. As they got closer, a young woman got out and rushed over. Her blonde hair was pulled back and she looked around in shock.

"Hey!" she called. "I'm here to help!"

"We appreciate it," Conner said as he walked closer. "But civilians shouldn't be here, miss."

The girl nodded and reached into her pocket. To Conner's surprise, she pulled out an old communicator and held it up.

"I'm...an acquaintance of R-Nightwing's," she said breathlessly. "I heard the distress call and came to offer help."

She walked to the back of the Navigator and opened the rear door.

"I have a place you guys can stay. You guys should be safe there." she said.

Mal looked at Conner.

"Should we trust her?"

Conner stared at the girl for a moment. Something about her was familiar. He couldn't quiet explain it, but he felt like he'd seen her before.

"I don't know," Conner said. "but, I doubt we have much more to loose."

Mal nodded wordlessly and put Nightwing in the backseat. He moved out of the way so Conner could load Wolf into the back. The girl closed the door and looked at them.

"You guys gonna come with me or just follow me?" she asked.

"I'll go with you." Conner said. The girl nodded and looked at Mal.

"How about you?"

"I'll follow. But, I have to go get my girlfriend first." he sent a look to Conner. "She's probably freaking."

The girl paused for a moment and opened the passenger door. She dug through the glove compartment for a moment before pulling out a pen and paper. After a moment, she handed the paper to Mal.

"Here's the destination. We'll see you there soon." she nodded to Conner and walked to to drivers side.

Conner watch Mal drive off. Before he got into the car, he looked at the smoldering remains of Mount Justice. He swallowed thickly and closed his eyes.

The blonde poked her head out of the car and looked at him.

"Hey," she said quietly. "you gonna be alright?"

"It..." Conner hesitated. "it was my home."

The girl nodded silently and gave him a sympathetic look.

"Take your time." she said.

A few minutes passed before Conner finally climbed into the passenger's seat. He heard Wolf whimper slightly behind him and reached back to stroke his head. As the car pulled away, Conner watched his former home disappear in the mirror.

_~~~"Hard times don't create heroes. It is during the hard times when the "hero" within us is revealed." -Bob Riley~~~_

"Idiots." Arsenal snorted, cracking the knuckles on his hand as he walked away from the group of unconscious goons. They'd made a huge mistake trying to mug him.

He tugged the hood of his sweater over his head and walked into the streets of San Francisco. The whole solo hero thing hadn't exactly been going too well the last few days. Neither did attempting to live on his own. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he was still physically and mentally a sixteen year old kid. But, he had been able to find an abandoned apartment to squat in for the time being. Not to mention he had a new arm.

The more Arsenal thought about his arm, he couldn't help but wince at the odd pain he felt. He knew there was no way the cybernetic arm was actually causing him pain, but he felt like it was real. He'd vaguely remembered a nurse at the hospital telling him something about "phantom pain", but he couldn't remember exactly what she said.

As he was pondering this, he failed to noticed the loud footsteps coming toward him until it was too late. He felt a body smack straight into him, knocking him backwards. He regained his balance and glared at the other person.

"Watch where you're going!" he snapped.

"Sorry!" a feminine voice said quickly before dashing off.

Arsenal did a double take as the person passed him. It was a girl probably his age (_"Or technically eight years younger than me."_ he thought bitterly.) with matted blonde hair and an over sized coat. He wasn't going to think twice about it until a burly man shoved passed him.

"Get back here you little bitch!" he growled as he ran down the street, no doubt after the girl.

That was all Arsenal needed to hear before he turned on his heels and sprinted after the man. He didn't know what the girl had done but he had a sinking feeling she was in trouble. As he rounded the corner, he doubled back and walked into the near by alley way. Sure enough, there was the man gripping the girl's hair in his meaty fist and tugging her head up roughly.

"Now, sweetheart, you are making this much harder than this needs to be," the man said calmly. "if you just come back with me quietly, there won't be any problems."

The girl thrashed and clawed at his hand before finally giving up and deciding to punch him in the crotch. The man wheezed in pain but didn't relinquish his grip. Arsenal had to give the girl credit for trying. The man tugged the girl up roughly.

"I have done _everything_ for you!" he screamed. "And you repay me by robbing me! You are nothing but an ungrateful little whore!"

"Hey!" Arsenal snapped. He walked further into the alley and glared at the man. "Let. Her. Go."

The girl looked up at him in shock. It was clear people rarely tried to help her in these situations. The man looked Arsenal up and down and snorted.

"Or else what, _kid_?" he snarled.

Arsenal pulled back his sleeve and revealed his cybernetic arm. He held it steady and glared. "Let her go, or I'm gonna blow your head off."

The man hesitated for a moment before chuckling. "I'd like to see you try."

Arsenal saw the palm of the hand open to reveal a cannon shaped barrel. He stumbled backwards a bit as it went off, causing the trash bin behind the two strangers to explode. The man stood in pure shock before looking back at Arsenal.

"Let. Her. Go." Arsenal hissed.

The man released her immediately. The girl scrambled to her feet and grabbed a lid off a trashcan. Before the man could react, she'd hit him across the temple with it, knocking him unconscious. Arsenal raised a brow and looked at her. She looked back and shrug.

"I needed a head start." she said quietly. Arsenal glimpsed down at her hands and saw they were shaking violently. He lowered his arm and nodded to her.

"You should get out of here before he wakes up." he said.

She nodded quickly, gave him a small nod of thanks, and shakily walked out of the alley. Arsenal watched her look around before uncertainly heading right. He was about to brush it off and be on his way until his conscious got the better of him. He sighed and headed out of the alley, jogging to catch up with her.

"Hey," he called, catching her attention. "are you in trouble?"

The girl shuffled slightly, and shook her head.

"No, why would you think that?"

"Because you're still holding the trash can lid." he pointed out.

She looked down and quickly dropped the lid with a clank. She rubbed the back of her head.

"Maybe...yeah. Yeah, I'm in a shitload of trouble." she admitted.

Arsenal nodded and motioned for her to follow him. He couldn't explain why exactly he felt the need to help this girl. He just knew his gut was urging him to.

"Come on, I'll help you out. I've got a place you can stay for now."

She gave him a disbelieving look. Finally she started following him. They walked in pure silence for a long while.

"Thank you." she whispered.

Arsenal glanced at her and nodded. "It's no problem."

"I'm Mia," she said softly. "Mia Dearden. What's your name?"

"Call me..." he hesitated for a moment. "Call me Harper."

"Thank you, Harper." Mia said with a smile.

_~~~"If you have not been a villain at a certain point in time, you will never be a hero. And the day you are a hero, you may become a villain the next day." -Carlos Ghosn~~~_

"So, where are we exactly?" Conner asked as they pulled up to a warehouse. They'd been driving for almost an hour and were somewhere on the outskirts of Happy Harbor. He looked behind him and saw, much to his dismay, that Nightwing was still out cold.

"It's a safe house of sorts." the girl said, climbing out of the car. She walked to the front of the warehouse and punched in a combination on the number-pad. The metal door groaned open. Once she'd returned to the car, she pulled it into the warehouse.

"Doesn't exactly look like a safe house to me." Conner snorted.

The girl parked the Navigator and rolled her eyes. "That's kinda the point, it throws people off."

She got out of the car and looked around briefly. She clicked her tongue and began feeling around the metal containers.

"We used it a couple years ago. It was kind of a safe haven for us."

"'We'?" Conner asked, grabbing Nightwing out of the back.

The blonde froze slightly.

"My friends and I." she said shortly. Just as Conner was going speak, she let out a cry of victory. Tugging off her glove, the girl pushed her hand on a nearby container.

A loud grinding noise came from behind Conner. He turned and saw the floor open up to reveal a staircase leading underground. The girl began to walk down them and beckoned Conner to follow.

"Hope you have a cellphone or something, we'll need to grant the big guy and his girlfriend access so they can get in."

"Er, yeah, I can contact him." Conner said.

"Good," the girl said before closing the warehouse door. "we need all the safety we can get."

As they continued down the staircase, they came upon a door. The blonde motioned for Conner and Wolf to stay back as she blew the dust off the dust from a scanning device by the door.

"Override security code HFQ-0118." she said. A high pitched beep went off and the door slid open.

As Conner and Wolf followed her in, he looked around in shock. It was like an underground version of the cave, only on a much smaller scale.

"Just put him on the couch for now," the girl said, walking to the giant computer nearby. "I need to rearrange some security features of this place. I would say help yourself to the fridge, but the last time I was here was about three years ago. So, I can't guarantee there's anything edible in here."

Conner set Nightwing down and looked around. How could this place exist without the League knowing, and who the hell was this random girl who'd shown up out of nowhere? He turned to the girl and stared at her.

"I'm gonna need to call him to help me rewrite this thing completely." he heard her mumbled under her breath.

"Call _who_?" Conner asked. "And who _are_ you?! Where did this place come from?!"_  
_

The girl sighed and turned around.

"I need to call a friend later to help me with the security rewrite and I already told you I'm an acquaintance of Nightwing's." she braced herself on the control panel and looked around. "As for this place, they made it a few years back to hide from you guys. It was supposed to be our base, but the team broke apart before it even fully formed. Still, we used it sometimes afterwards to just hang out."

"_Who _is _'we'_?" Conner asked through gritted teeth.

The girl ducked her head and pushed back her bangs. She took a deep breath and looked up.

"The Light," she said finally. "they were trying to make a junior team a couple years back to combat your team. Like I said though, it crumbled before it even began."

The realization came crashing down on Conner like a ton of bricks. He now _knew_ why the girl in front of him looked so familiar. Why he'd seemed to recognize her when she approached them at Mount Justice. Conner took a step back.

"I know you." he whispered. "You...you're..."

"Retired." she said. "I don't work for the Light anymore. I realized how bad they were and got out when I had the chance. Please trust me when I say I _do _want to help you."

Conner said nothing. The girl stepped forward and stuck her hand out.

"So, allow me to introduce myself," she said. "My name is Harley Quinn. I'm here to help."


	2. Aftershock

Hey everyone! I decided to write this chapter early and post it due to the whole Cartoon Network fiasco going on. It blows that we didn't get a new episode, so I wanted to post the chapter early. Hopefully this whole mess will be resolved soon. Anyway, I'm planning on posting a chapter every Friday or Saturday and I'm going to try to be consistent. If something is going to delay the chapter update, I'll try to let you guys know ahead of time. Thanks for all the feedback I've gotten so far :)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any of the other characters mentioned. If I did own Young Justice, I think I'd just screw everything up, so thank God Greg Weissman and Brandon Vetti own it. **

**PLEASE NOTE: This story is an AU as of the Young Justice: Invasion episode "Darkest". It will branch off from the canon series as of that episode. Enjoy!**

* * *

The rest of the trip had been pretty uneventful, save for the fact Mia was constantly looking over her shoulder in worry. Harper had finally gotten tired of it and insisted she walk in front of him so she wouldn't have to worry. It was painfully apparent that Mia wasn't used to people trying to help her. Harper didn't let her know he was keeping a sharp eye out for the man that was after her, the last thing he needed was for her to freak out.

They'd finally reached the run down apartment complex a mere thirty minutes later. Harper guided her up the steps of the fire escape and helped her through the window of the apartment. He let go of her arm quickly when he notice her flinch. Walking to the corner of the room, Harper struck a match and lit a few candles.

"It's not much," he said. "but you can stay here for now."

Mia nodded and sat on the dingy mattress in the corner. "I'll be gone tomorrow morning. I don't want to bother you."

Harper looked over to her and gave her a look of sympathy. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"So, why exactly was that guy after you?"

Mia jumped slightly and wrapped her arms around herself.

"He wasn't exactly _lying_ when he said I stole from him," she hesitated. "all the money I earn goes to him."

Harper raised a brow. "Why? Is he your boss or something?"

"He's," Mia took a deep breath. "he _was_ my pimp."

Harper froze in shock. For the first time, he'd really taken in her appearance. He hadn't noticed the heeled shoes, short skirt, or tube top under the large coat before. She looked extremely skinny too, he couldn't imagine the last time she ate. Not to mention she was probably freezing at the moment.

Harper paused for a moment before heading to the duffle bag in the corner. He pulled out a pair of sweatpants and handed them to her.

"Here," he said. "They, uh, may be a little big on you."

Mia looked at him in surprise for a moment before taking them. "Thanks."

Harper nodded and turned away to give her privacy.

"You know, not many people would willingly give a hooker a pair of their sweatpants," Mia laughed. "Then again, many people wouldn't help a hooker in general. You can turn around."

Harper gave a slight shrug before turning. "I'm not like many people."

"I can tell." Mia said before standing up.

Harper watched her wander around the loft awkwardly. What was one supposed to say when having a casual conversation with a hooker? He winced, realizing how mean that sounded in his head.

"So," Mia spoke up, catching Harper's attention. "What brings you to the wonderful city of San Francisco?"

Harper hesitated before giving a large sigh. "It's...a complicated story."

Mia let out a laugh and grinned at him.

"Dude, my who life is a complicated story, I think I'll be able to follow."

_"You have no idea."_ Harper thought with a slight smile.

He took a seat on the mattress and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Basically, I found out something huge from someone I trusted and decided to get as far away from them as I could."

Mia nodded slightly.

"What about you?" Harper asked.

"I got into a fight with my father, ran away from home, and next thing I know I'm working the streets of San Francisco." Mia said shortly, wandering into the kitchen area.

Harper was about to ask how _that_ happened but decided she'd tell him if she wanted to. He watched as Mia opened the refrigerator curiously. She let out a sudden shriek. Harper jumped to his feet as Mia sprinted over and hid behind him.

"There's a raccoon in the fridge!" she said, pointing at the kitchen.

"There are raccoons in San Francisco?" Harper muttered raising a brow.

He walked over to the kitchen cautiously. Sure enough, a large raccoon with a weird, mechanical collar around its neck leaped out and launched itself at Harper.

"Holy shit!" he swore, barely diving out of the way in time. He could literally _see_ the muscles bulging out of its skin. He readied his arm and shot multiple blasts at it. The raccoon dodged every blast and knocked him over. Harper blocked his face with his mechanical arm and attempted to kick the thing off.

Mia looked around the room frantically for something to hit it with. She finally spotted a bow and a few arrows nearby. She quickly grabbed them, strung the bow, and prayed she remembered how to shoot. The first two arrows missed completely. She strung the third arrow and took a deep breath, concentrating.

Harper finally kicked the thing off and scrambled back. He raised his arm and readied it. The raccoon growled and leaped towards him. Before it could attack, a whistling noise filled the air and the collar around the raccoon suddenly sparked. The raccoon trashed and shrieked in pain, snapping the arrow shaft as it did so. Harper saw the rest of the arrow sticking out of the collar as the raccoon staggered to the window and leaped onto the fire escape. Harper walked to the window in time to see the creature fall into the alleyway.

He turned around and saw a shaking Mia with his bow in her hand.

"Nice shot!" he said.

"I learned in P.E when I was twelve." she said, rubbing her arm.

Harper stepped forward and noticed the large bruise forming on her forearm where the bow string probably hit.

"Though, I do suggest an arm guard next time."

Mia looked at him and let out a laugh. She walked to the window and peered out.

"Have you ever seen a raccoon that big? And what's with the weird collar?" she asked

Harper frowned. He closed the cracked window and shook his head.

"No clue," he looked over at her. "You'd probably know more about the vermin in the city than I do."

"Oh, I know about the vermin alright," she gave him a slight smirk. "I know where the majority of them live. And their jobs."

Harper let out a slight laugh. He walked to the corner and sat down.

"You should rest." he said.

Mia looked at him in surprise. "You don't want the mattress?"

Harper shook his head. "You need it more than I do."

Mia started to walk to the mattress when something caught her eye. She smiled and walked over to the bow and arrows.

"Neat hat." she said, picking up Harper's old Speedy hat. She put it on her head and laughed.

"You can have it if you want." Harper said, rolling his eyes. He honestly had no idea what the appeal of that hat was to her.

Mia grinned and walked to the mattress. She took off the hat and laid down

"You know, you're a decent guy, Harper." she said as she played with the red feather on the hat.

Harper tilted his head down and pulled his hood over his eyes, hiding the slight smile on his face. "Try to get some sleep, Mia."

_~~~"Learning to trust is one of life's most difficult tasks." -Isaac Watts~~~_

"I'll tell her to open the door." Conner said, hanging up the phone.

"Was that the big guy?" Harley asked, opening the control system on the computer screen.

"Yeah, he and his girlfriend are here." Conner said slowly.

He watched as Harley pushed a button to allow the warehouse door to open. He still couldn't believe _Harley Quinn_ of all people was helping them. He couldn't imagine how the league, let alone _Nightwing_, would react to it. Then again, Nightwing must have trusted her enough to give her a communicator.

Harley got up and walked to the door. She smiled slightly and moved out of the way to let Karen and Mal in.

"Welcome to the base. You guys alright?"

"We've been better." Mal sighed. "Thanks again for helping us."

"I can't believe it's just...gone." Karen said, shaking her head. Mal put a comforting arm around her.

Harley stuck out her hand. "I'm Harley Quinn by the way. You guys should be safe here."

"Wait, Harley Quinn?!" Karen asked in shock.

"Are you the Joker's girl?" Mal asked, eyeing her slightly.

Harley frowned and lowered her hand. "I'm his _daughter_. But, no. I don't work for him anymore."

Mal looked over at Conner, raising a brow. Conner looked at Harley and shrugged slightly.

"Her heartbeat's normal. She's either telling the truth or she's an incredible liar."

Harley rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in surrender.

"Fine, believe what you want, but I wouldn't benefit what so ever if the Light got ahold of you."

She started to walk away when Karen reached out and touched her shoulder. Harley turned and looked at her. Karen held out her hand.

"I'm Karen. Thank you for helping us, Harley."

Harley let out a slight smile and shook her hand. She looked over at Nightwing and frowned.

"Guy's been out since we got here an hour ago." she murmured. Harley made her way back to the computer.

"By the way, how many of you might be coming here? There's a lot of rooms further into the base, but I'll need to call a friend to help me get the security system hacked safely."

"Uh, there could be as many as ten if anything." Conner said.

"Even more than that when we get the others back." Mal added.

"Okay, then I _ defiantly _need to phone a friend." Harley said, pulling out her cellphone. "And you guys should call your friends and tell them to come here."

"And you're _sure_ this place is safe? The Light won't be able to get here?" Mal asked.

"I did a basic override that needs manual access unless you have a code. My friend and I messed with the system a few years back so only a handful of people could get in. I blacklisted members of the Light so they can't get access and won't be alerted when this place is active." Harley explained.

Nightwing suddenly gave a groan and stirred. Harley jumped and made her way to the door.

"And on that note, I'm going to make a call. Don't let bird boy know I'm the one who brought you here, just say someone else did."

"Why not?" Conner asked.

Harley hesitated at the door.

"The last time I saw him, we didn't exactly leave on the best of terms." she thumbed through her contacts page and raised the phone to her ear. "I'll be back in a bit."

With that, she was up the stairs and gone.

_~~~"Trust your instinct to the end, though you can render no reason." -Ralph Waldo Emerson~~~_

"Authorities are no yet sure of what caused the explosion," a news reporter said, motioning to the pillar of fire behind her. "but they have informed us that nobody has been reported injured or missing."

The young man leaned forward with his hands folded in front of his mouth. He couldn't believe this was happening. It was killing him not to know what was going on exactly.

He could hear the faint sound of his boyfriend frantically trying to contact his friends with no such luck. He'd bolted out of the room as soon as the headline **"Explosion in Happy Harbor"** came onto the TV. He wasn't sure what they could exactly do from New Mexico and he knew his boyfriend would bolt out the door if he couldn't contact anyone soon.

The redhead jumped slightly when his phone went off. He picked it up and saw it was an unknown caller.

"Hello?" he answered slowly.

"Rathaway, do you remember how to get to the base?" a female voice asked.

He paused for a moment before realizing who he was talking to. "Harley?! What are you...I haven't heard from you in years!"

"I know, Hartley." Harley sighed. "I'm sorry I haven't contacted you, but I _really_ need your help."

Hartley sighed and rubbed his face. "What's going on? You in some kind of trouble?"

"No, I'm fine for now. Do you remember how to get to the base we used to hang out at?"

"The one in the warehouse?" Hartley asked. "Yeah, of course I do. What about it?"

"Good. Now, did you hear about the explosion in Happy Harbor?"

This caught Hartley's attention. "Yeah, it's all over the news, even over here."

"It was an attack on Mount Justice," Harley explained. "I went there to help them out. I currently have a few members of the League here to keep them safe."

Hartley stood up and walked to the bedroom. He knocked on the door.

"What do you need me to do?" he asked. His boyfriend poked his head out and Hartley motioned for him to come out.

"I need you to help me rewrite the security codes so the Light can't get in."

"And you're _sure_ nobody from Mount Justice got hurt?" Hartley confirmed. He saw his boyfriend's eyes go wide before he rushed to get a suitcase.

"Nightwing got knocked out, but he seems to be coming to." Harley sighed. "I really need your help right now, Hart."

"We'll be there as soon as we can. Just hang tight." Hartley said. He gave a quick goodbye before hanging up.

He saw his boyfriend frantically trying to put their entire bedroom into the small suitcase. Under normal circumstances it'd be funny, but in this case it was almost heartbreaking.

"Miguel," he said, trying to get his attention. "Miguel..._Bunker_!"

Miguel's head snapped up and he stopped what he was doing. Hartley moved to the other side of the bed and hugged him.

"They're alright," he said. "Nobody got hurt. Everyone's okay."

Miguel shook slightly as he hugged Hartley back. "I'm worried about them. I mean, Artemis died less then a week ago and now _this_?"

"I know," Hartley said. He pulled back and cupped Miguel's face. "That's why we're going to Happy Harbor now to help out. Harley's got them somewhere safe. So just breathe."

Miguel smiled slightly before leaning forward to kiss Hartley. Hartley smiled into the kiss before pulling away.

"Also, you _might_ wanna take the cat out of the suitcase before she gets trapped in there."

Miguel jumped and pulled the cat out before sitting her on the ground.

"We can come back for clothes later," Miguel said. "Let's just get to Happy Harbor."

Hartley nodded. Soon enough, the two men grabbed their coats and were out the door.

_~~~"If you reveal your secrets to the wind, you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees." -Khalil Gibran~~~_

Nightwing sat up slowly and looked around. He had no idea where he was or how he got there. He groaned and rubbed his head slowly.

"Good, you're awake." a voice said. Nightwing looked up and saw Karen standing in front of him with some water and a bottle of aspirin.

"Karen? Where are we?" he asked.

Karen looked hesitant to answer. "A friend of yours came to help us. We're staying here for a while."

Nightwing suddenly remembered getting caught in the debris field after the explosion. It was such a rookie mistake and was defiantly _not_ part of the plan he and Kaldur had agreed on.

"Is Conner alright?" he asked.

"Conner and Mal went to contact the others and get supplies," Karen explained. "Wolf's alright too."

"And...the kids?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

Karen gave him a pained look. "Aqualad kidnapped them. Gar, Jaime, Bart. He took them all."

Nightwing grit his teeth and looked down. That hadn't been part of the original plan either. Too many things had gone wrong this time around. He could only hope Kaldur was able to keep them safe. He silently made sure the flash-drive Kaldur had slipped him was still on him. He let out a small breath of relief when he felt it.

He felt Karen touch his shoulder.

"It's not your fault. You tried everything you could to save them." she said firmly.

Nightwing nodded. But, he knew she didn't understand. He needed to talk to someone who did. He needed to get in contact with Wally.

"I need to get to the Hall of Justice." Nightwing said, standing. "I need to let the League know what happened."

"Are you sure you'll be alright to get there?" Karen asked in concern.

"I'll be fine. I just need to get to a zeta tube."

Karen looked like she didn't fully believe him. She sighed.

"Mal and I found one in the area," she said. "Just exit the warehouse, go to the left and keep going until you spot the telephone booth. It shouldn't be more than a ten to fifteen minute walk from here."

"Thanks, Karen." he said.

As he made his way to the door, he couldn't help but wonder who brought them here. He _knew_ Kaldur hadn't arranged a rescue crew to be sent there. As he neared the exit, he saw a girl with blonde hair walk in. At first glance, he mistook her for Cassie. When he saw her face, however, he felt his blood run cold and stopped in his tracks.

"Harley." he whispered in disbelief.

Harley looked up at him and was frozen in shock. They starred at each other for a long moment. Anger bubbled up in Nightwing's chest. He had _no_ idea what she was doing here, but he wasn't happy about it. Harley frowned and moved out of his way. He moved past her without a second thought.

"Long time no see, Dick." Harley said quietly enough so only Nightwing would hear.

Nightwing almost stopped again when he heard his name. He sent her a small glare before wordlessly existing the room.

Harley glared as he left. When she turned back, she saw Karen sitting there with an eyebrow raised.

"What was _that_ about?"

"He's was Batman's sidekick, I was the Joker's sidekick," Harley shrugged. "we don't have the best of blood between us."

Karen wasn't sure if she fully believed her, but she didn't say anything else.

Meanwhile, Nightwing stood leaning against the side of the warehouse. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He needed to calm down.

Checking to make sure nobody was around, he opened accessed the computer on his wrist. He went deep into the files until he came across what he was looking for.

He starred at the picture in front of him. It'd been taken years ago. His younger self was grinning at the camera, eyes hidden by sunglasses and arm stretched in front of him, holding the camera steady. Standing next to him was a girl his age with an equally large grin with bright blue eyes. He hair was hidden by a dark pink beanie and she was giving the peace symbol to the camera. The caption of the picture read: **"Rob and Harlz, summer 2013"**. It almost made him sad to see them so happy.

With a snarl, Nightwing reburied the file and shut the computer off. No, there was absolutely no way he was going to feel remorse for this. There may have been a time when he and Harley could call each other "friends". That time was long gone and would never return.

Nightwing shoved off the wall and made his way down the rows of warehouses. He _had_ to get to the Hall of Justice as soon as possible.

_~~~"Do not tell secrets to those whose faith and silence you have not already tested." -Elizabeth I~~~_

Harper woke up slowly. He had no clue how long he'd been asleep, but it couldn't have been more than a few hours. He wasn't even sure what had woken him up. Harper stretched slightly before he remembered something. He closed his eyes, refusing to look at the mattress in front of him. He didn't want to acknowledge the fact Mia could be gone. Harper wasn't sure why that would upset him, but for some reason it did.

He took a deep breath and looked in front of him. Much to his shock, Mia was still curled up on the mattress, asleep. He almost cracked a smile when he noticed her shaking like crazy. He got up to check on her and was shocked to see she was covered in sweat. Harper gently put a hand on her shoulder and flinched. He could _feel_ heat radiating off of her.

"Mia," he said, shaking her slightly. "Mia, wake up. You're burning up."

"I'm fine," Mia muttered. "Just a cold."

She was suddenly shaken by a very dry coughing fit. Harper shook his head. He needed to get her to a doctor.

"We need to go to a hospital." he said firmly.

"No hospital," Mia begged weakly. "I'm fine, really."

Harper was conflicted. He had this clearly ill girl in front of him he hadn't known for even twelve hours, and yet he felt oddly protective over her. He knew she needed medical attention, but she was clearly adamant about going to the hospital.

Harper sighed in defeat. He _knew_ where he could take her, he just didn't want to admit it. As another coughing fit ripped through Mia's body, Harper made up his mind.

He stood up and packed away his bow and the few arrows he had left into his duffle bag. Harper slung it over his shoulder before walking back to the mattress. He slowly picked Mia up. Mia flinched slightly.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," Harper said softly. "I'm gonna take you somewhere safe."

He was about to walk out when he had a thought. He walked back to the mattress and picked up the Speedy hat. He handed it to Mia.

"Here, hold onto your hat."

Mia closed her hand around the hat and shuddered. Harper knew they had to go, _now_. As he made his way out of the loft and through the apartment complex, he became painfully aware of how light Mia was. As they exited the building, Mia looked up at him blearily.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"We're going to Star City." Harper answered.

"Star City?" she mumbled. "That's three hours away from here."

"Don't worry, we'll get there in no time." Harper assured her.

He walked down the streets of San Francisco, desperately trying to remember where the nearest zeta tube was. He needed to get her to Ollie. As much as Harper hated to admit it, Ollie and Dinah would be able to help. Even after everything that happened, he knew deep down he could still count on them. He just hoped he could get to them in time.


	3. Bared Defenses

Hey everyone! Not much to say this week, there hasn't been a lot happening. One thing I did forget to mention in the last chapter is I'm going to be referring to Original!Roy as "Harper" and Clone!Roy as "Roy". It gives me less of a headache when writing and I really don't like writing things like "clone Roy said..." or "the original Roy..." That being said, hope you enjoy the chapter! (eventually I'll get around to naming them)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or the characters mentioned in this story. I also do no own Doctor Who; you'll understand why this was here after you read the chapter.**

* * *

"Explain to me exactly _how_ we're gonna get to Star City at this rate?" Mia asked, keeping a firm grip on Harper's jacket.

For reasons Harper couldn't understand, Mia had insisted on walking by herself half way through their trek. That didn't keep Harper himself from insisting she at least let him keep a hold on her in the event she fainted. He unconsciously tightened his grip on her waist as he peered down another alley.

"We're taking a short-cut." he said simply.

"Dude, no disrespect, but I highly doubt any short cut will get us there faster than a bus." Mia turned her head away and stumbled as another wave of coughs racked her body.

Harper waited until she nodded to indicate she was okay to walk.

"Trust me, this is a much more effective way of travel than a bus." Harper checked the next alley and grinned when he saw the abandoned telephone booth. "Come on."

As he opened the door, Mia raised a brow.

"Um, is this the part where you tell me you're the Doctor?" she asked.

Harper gave a small smirk as he ushered her inside. "Dunno, would that make you Rose or Donna?"

"I think you're a little behind in the series there, Harper." Mia laughed.

Harper frowned. Right, he forgot sometimes he was living eight years into the future. He shut the door behind them and punched in the code to allow civilians to travel via zeta tube. Mia looked confused for a second before freezing when a beam came out and scanned them. Harper wrapped an arm around her shoulders as the computer spoke.

**"Recognize: Red Arrow, 21. Mia Dearden, Civilian.****"**

"Red Arrow?" Mia asked, looking at Harper. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. He tightened his grip as Mia let out a small yelp as they were transferred. A few seconds later, they were in Star City.

Harper opened the door to the zeta tube and helped Mia out. She looked around in shock.

"I figure you have questions." Harper said.

"Hell yeah I do!" Mia shrieked. "Where are we?! Why did that scanner thing know my name?! And what is tha-"

Mia froze as she stared at the zeta tube. Or rather, the police box hiding the zeta tube.

"Is that the TARDIS?! I was totally joking about you being the Doctor!"

Harper let out a snort. "We're in Star City, the scanner's smart, it's called a zeta tube, and no I'm not the Doctor. But, you're right about the TARDIS thing, or at least it was modeled after it."

Mia stared at him in pure shock. It was obvious she was having trouble taking everything in.

"Look," Harper said slowly. "I know you're probably confused, trust me I know the feeling. But, just let me get you somewhere safe or at least to people who can help you and I promise you'll never have to see me again."

Mia walked toward him until they were nearly chest-to-chest. Harper looked down at her a saw the huge amount of insecurity in her blue eyes. She searched his face before letting out a deep breath.

"_Why_ are you helping me?"

"Because I know how much it sucks to get screwed over by the people you trust, the people you love." Harper said firmly. Mia didn't seem convinced.

"What do you want in return? I can't pay you back with money, but I would be willing to-"

"No," Harper said firmly. "I don't want anything in return, especially not that."

Mia didn't say anything. She broke eye contact with him and looked at her feet, Harper could see the tears coming to her eyes. He knew he had to say something.

"You're not worthless, Mia. Even if people have told you that you are, or that you're only good for sex. If you really want to repay me, repay me by getting out of this life. Don't work the streets anymore."

Mia swallowed a lump in her throat. She took the hat she'd been holding and placed it on her head. When she looked up, the tears were gone.

"Well, let's get moving then. Where do we need to go?"

Harper gave her a small smile. He would never admit it, but the hat suited her in an odd way. He watched Mia skip down the alley. As she neared the street, a loud, wheezing cough. Harper's eyes widened and he darted forward, scooping Mia up before she could collapse.

"We're going to see a friend of mine. He can help." he looked down in worry as he ran down the street. "Just hang in there, Mia."

_~~~"'Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten." -Lilo & Stitch~~~_

_The sounds of explosions rattled the tiny house. Bart had no idea what was happening. He sped down stairs and watched in horror as the neighborhood was engulfed in flames. As the blasts got closer, Bart felt a hand grab onto the back of his shirt and he suddenly found himself a mile away from the smoldering remains of his house. He looked up in confusion._

_"Dad, what's going on?!" he asked._

_Don looked at the sky and Bart saw it, the giant figure looming in the sky. Blue Beetle. Don squeezed his eyes shut and knelt in front of his son. He grabbed Bart by the shoulders and looked him dead it the eyes._

_"Bart, you need to go," he said firmly. "You're fast enough to get ahead of him. You can make it out of here, son."_

_"But, what about you?!" Bart panicked._

_"Bart, just go! I'm going to hold him off!"_

_Before Bart could protest again, Don bolted towards Blue Beetle, using a near by car as a spring-board. The attempt was in vain. Blue Beetle caught Don mid-air before slamming him to the ground. Bart stood frozen in fear. As he watched Blue Beetle point his laser at Don, Bart nearly bolted towards him._

_Don looked at Bart in horror. A his last words came out in a screech._

_"BART RUN!"_

_The blast of the cannon knocked Bart over. He watched in horror as his dad disintegrated. As Blue Beetle began to turn towards him, Bart jumped to his feet and ran. Ran faster than he'd ever pushed himself before. He heard a cackle behind him and could feel the heat of the lasers being fired at him._

_He could feel himself slowing down. Bart panicked. He wasn't focused, couldn't get himself to go at the speeds he needed to get to in order to get away. Another laser was shot, barely grazing Bart's heels. The feeling of dread filled Bart's stomach. He knew he was going to die at this rate._

_He heard another laser beginning to fire up. He knew this one would be the one to kill him. As he continued to run, Bart closed his eyes and braced himself._

_As the laser fired, Bart felt someone knock into him. Arms wrapped around him, keeping a secure lock on his waist while the other shielded his head. They tumbled out of the way at light-speed and down an embankment. As they came to a halt, Bart sat up. He let out a groan._

_The other person slapped a hand over his mouth and pulled him close to them. Bart could hear Blue Beetle calling out from the distance._

_"I will find you, meat! You will not get away!"_

_The other person clutched him closer. As Bart turned his head to see who'd rescued him, he froze. A woman in her late twenties with short red hair sat stiffly. Her eyes were hidden by a pair of red goggles, but that didn't keep Bart from knowing they were green. His throat went dry and he felt tears come to his eyes._

_As soon as she was satisfied that Blue Beetle wasn't going to find them she turned Bart towards her and took his face in her hands._

_"Bart, are you alright?" she asked urgently, her eyes betraying her worry. "Bartholomew, talk to me. Did you get hurt?"_

_Bart let out a choked sob and wrapped his arms around her neck._

_"Aunt Irey," his voice cracked. "I thought...I-I mean nobody came for us so...my dad and mom are gone."_

_Irey wrapped her arms around him and held him close. "You're not alone, Bart. You're going to be okay. I've got you."_

_Bart smiled slightly and hugged her back. For the first time in a while, he felt like things really would be alright. A loud explosion went off behind_ _them. _

"Bart! Wake up, hermano!" a voice said.

Bart's eyes shot open. He let out a slight scream as he was met face-to-face with Blue Beetle. His mind was racing.

_"Gotta get away. Gotta find Aunt Irey. Danger, gotta get away, survive!"_

"Bart, it's me!" The armor stripped away, revealing Jaime's face.

Bart's thoughts came to a halt. Right, he was in the future. That meant Jaime wasn't evil, that Aunt Irey hadn't even been _born_ yet.

But, that didn't mean he wasn't in any danger.

"Move it or lose it, kid!" a guard barked.

"We're coming!" Jaime snapped, pulled Bart to his feet. He kept a firm grip on his shoulder as the guard shoved them into the hall.

Bart looked as they walked down the corridor. Dread filled him as he recognized the aliens. Or rather, the Reach.

"Where's Gar?" Bart asked quietly.

"They separated us." Jaime answered. "He's with another group."

"Got any idea where they're taking us?"

"No clue."

As they were shoved into another room, Bart felt his heart drop. There had to be at least a dozen other kids with them. All look scared and confused. A familiar face stuck out.

"Gar!" Bart called.

Gar looked up and gave Bart a look of utter relief.

"I thought they'd killed you guys." Gar said. Bart and Jaime walked forward until they were reunited with their team-mate.

"We're safe," Jaime sighed. "For now."

"Jaime!" a voice called out.

Jaime turned and was shocked to see Tye pushing his way through the crowd.

"Tye!" Jaime reached out and gave his friend a hug. "You've been missing for over a month!"

"I know," he said. "I got grabbed by one of these guys at the bus station."

Jaime nodded. He was relieved to find out that Tye was safe, but he was still unsure why he'd been taken in the first place.

Tye lowered his eyes. "How...How's my mom?"

"She's fine, " Jaime said, placing a hand on Tye's shoulder. "She's worried sick about you, but she's safe. Maurice was arrested a month ago for piracy."

Tye visibly relaxed at the news. Before he could speak, a guard came over and grabbed Tye.

"You, over here!" he snapped, shoving Tye over to an African-American boy.

Bart looked around in horror as he realized they were being separated into different groups. The majority of the teens were in one large group, which made Bart wonder why Tye and the other boy had been selected. The guard walked back over and grabbed Bart and Gar.

"You two are going with them." he hissed, shoving them into Tye's group.

Jaime jumped and started to make his way toward them when another guard grabbed him.

"You don't go with them. You're going to the lab. Take him!"

Two other guards appeared and dragged a thrashing Jaime away.

"Jaime!" Tye called.

"Blue, no!" Gar cried, trying to sprint forward. Bart held him back.

"I'll be fine!" Jaime yelled as he was dragged out.

As the doors slid shut, Tye started to storm forward. Bart caught his arm. He knew they had to stay calm.

"Stay put." Bart said.

"But, they took Jaime!" Tye cried.

"And we'll get him back. But, it won't do him any good if you get hurt trying to help him." Bart said firmly.

Tye growled and stayed where he was. Bart let out a slight breath of relief. He would never consider himself a leader, hell he'd pass the job onto Tye or anyone else if he could. But, Bart knew he was the only one here who knew anything about how the Reach worked.

So, he waited. Waited as the guards continued to separate the kids, none being added to their tiny group of four.

"What do you think they're gonna do to us, Bart?" Gar whispered.

"I don't know, Garfield." Bart answered.

A guard turned their attention to them. Bart narrowed his eyes. He grabbed Gar by the shoulders and backed him up until he was pressed against him. He kept his grip tight and gave the guard a glare that said "you take him from me, I will end you". He knew the glare well, Aunt Irey had used it too many times to count. The guard turned away.

"You! What do you think you're doing?!" a guard snapped.

Bart looked over and saw a small girl around Gar's age walking towards the larger group. Two guards picked her up as she tried to get away.

"Put her with the other four!" the head guard commanded.

As the two carried her over, the girl thrashed.

"Let me go! Let me go!" her eyes widened in panic and started to glow white. "LET ME GO!"

The light above them glowed in a dark energy and sparked. Many of the other teens gasped and screamed. The head guard growled.

"Take care of her!"

The first guard held the girl as the other punched her in the stomach. She collapsed and the light stopped sparking. The first guard threw her at the other group, causing her to slide across the floor. She groaned in pain.

Gar was the first to react. He dashed forward and touched her shoulder.

"Are you alright?!"

The girl sat up painfully. She hissed in pain. The head guard walked over.

"On your feet!"

"Back off! She's hurt!" Gar snapped.

"She will heal. On your feet!" the guard barked.

Gar glared for a moment before helping the girl to her feet. She gave him a small nod.

"I'm Garfield." he said quietly. Bart came over and put her other arm around her neck. She blinked her strange purple eyes at them.

"I'm Raven."

Bart closed his eyes and bit the inside of his cheek. He knew her, or rather knew _of_ her. Knew how she was one of the people who'd been killed during the Reach apocalypse. The guards ushered the group out of the room.

"Trying to resist with be fatal." the guard said.

"Guess we don't have much of a choice then." Tye grumbled.

"No, we don't." Bart said grimly. He helped Gar carry Raven down the hall, wondering where they were being taken.

_~~~"You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don't trust enough." -Frank Crane~~~_

"So, _where_ is this place again?" Wally asked coldly, following Nightwing down the rows of warehouses.

"It's not far." he replied shortly.

After their fight at the Hall of Justice, Wally had insisted on coming with Nightwing to make sure everyone was alright. He may be retired, but that didn't mean he didn't care about his friends. Wally raised a brow as he watched Nightwing. Years of being his best friend had given him a sixth sense to understand the younger boy's emotions. He could tell something was up.

"Alright, I _know_ something else is bugging you," Wally sighed. "What's going on with you?"

Nightwing tightened his jaw. "You'll see what's bugging me soon enough."

Wally rolled his eyes. If Nightwing was going to be pissy, fine by him. The sooner he could see if friends, the sooner he could leave. The entered the open warehouse and descended down a flight of stairs. Nightwing was relieved to see the rest of the team had made it there safely.

"Nightwing!" Barbara called. She ran over and hugged him around the waist. Nightwing hugged her back.

"I'm alright, Babs."

Wally looked away, feeling a pang in his chest. A familiar face by the computer caught his eye.

"You'd think it'd be easy to rewrite a security system. But, no. Supervillians have to make shit way harder than it needs to be." Hartley grumbled.

"At least you got the rest of the rooms open." Miguel offered. Hartley gave a slight smile.

"Hartley!" Wally called, heading over. Hartley spun around and smiled when he saw Wally.

"Hey, dude."

Wally soon found himself with an arm full of Miguel. He patted the other man on the back.

"Good to see you too, Miguel."

"How are you holding up?" Miguel asked.

Wally sighed. "I've had better days. What are you guys doing here anyway?"

"A friend called and asked me to rewrite the security system." Harley answered, continuing to type.

"He's almost done." Miguel stated proudly. He wrapped his arms around Hartley's shoulders and pecked him on the temple.

Even though it hurt to see another couple so clearly in love, Wally couldn't help but smile. He glanced around.

"Where's Megan?" he asked.

"She's in one of the rooms." Miguel frowned. "She's pretty torn up. Who can blame her? Her boyfriend and her brother were kidnapped."

"She might wanna be left alone." Hartley added.

"I'll see if I can talk to her." Wally said, walking down the dim hall.

"Good luck. I'll have the lights working in a few minutes, by the way!" Hartley called.

Wally waved a hand to indicate that he'd heard him. As he walked, he couldn't help but feel drained. Drained from missing Artemis, from worrying about the team, but mainly from this huge secret he had to keep. He hated the idea that Kaldur could be a triple agent, but it was a possibility.

Wally groaned and rubbed his face. He felt someone bump into him and opened his eyes.

"Sorry about that."

"Wally?"

Wally looked at the other person. His eyes widened in shock. Harley looked back at him with a calm expression. Well, that explained why Nightwing was acting so sour. Wally relaxed his shoulders and stared back.

"You came back." he murmured.

Harley let out a deep sigh and leaned against the opposite wall.

"Yeah, I did." she said.

They stood in pure silence for a moment.

"I heard about Artemis," Harley announced. "I'm so sorry, Wally."

Wally swallowed the forming lump in his throat. He looked at her and gave a short laugh.

"Nightwing isn't exactly happy to see you."

"Neither were the other bats." Harley looked at her feet. "I see they got a new Robin."

Wally frowned. He hadn't missed the flash of regret on Harley's face.

"Harley-"

"I can imagine he told you." Harley cut him off. "About that night. I can only imagine how mad you probably are at me."

"I'm not mad at you because of that night." Wally narrowed his eyes. "You hurt him, Harley. He _needed_ you, and you _left_."

"I didn't have a choice!" Harley hissed. "Neither you or anybody else has _any_ idea what happened after that night. Nightwing didn't need me, he never wanted to see me again after what had happened. So get off your high horse, West. Don't assume you know everything when you've only heard one side of the story."

Harley stormed off. As Wally watched her go, he gave a deep sigh.

"He blames himself more than he blames you. He still cared when you left."

Harley paused. She kept her back to him. "It's the past, Wally. We can't change it. And as far as I'm concerned, I've done my part to help. I'll be leaving soon."

"You two still have a chance to fix things." Wally said quietly. He saw Harley tense.

"There's nothing left to fix."

Wally said nothing else. He turned and continued to search for Megan's room. Harley walked down the hall and soon came face-to-face with Robin. She tensed even more as she passed him. He looked like he was about to say something to her.

"Save it, kid," she said. "I've heard enough crap from Nightwing already."

Robin looked caught off guard. Harley stopped and took a shaky breath. She turned back to Robin.

"By the way, don't die. They can't handle another loss."

Robin stood in confusion and watched as she left. He didn't know a lot about Harley, other than the fact she was apparently the daughter of the Joker. He silently decided that if he was ever going to find out what was going on, he'd have to do a little detective work of his own.

_~~~"Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts." -Arnold Bennett~~~_

"Okay, here's the situation." Nightwing addressed the group. "Aqualad along with three other villains, broke into Mount Justice yesterday night. He took Impulse, Beast Boy, and Blue Beetle hostage and blew up the cave. We're not sure where he took them."

"Do we have any indication that they could still be alive?" Robin asked. He glanced over at Megan who had been sitting silently the entire time.

"We have reason to believe that they may have been taken to the location of the other missing teenagers." Nightwing replied.

"What gives you that idea?" Cassie asked curiously.

"Wishful thinking?" Nightwing sighed.

"Nightwing told us that Icicle Jr was with Aqualad's team." Barbara added. "Last time we checked, he was working with Psimon. There's a good possibility that they were delivered with the other teens to the Light's partner."

"Oh yeah!" Cassia exclaimed. "And, other than looking like they were unconscious, they all seemed to be alright."

"The Light wouldn't take children for no apparent reason," Harley spoke up, drawing the attention of the room. "They'll have a purpose for them. They won't hurt or kill them either, it'd be a major loss to whatever they're planning. Trust me, the Light doesn't like needless waste in resources."

"Can we, though?" Robin asked.

"Can we what?" Harley asked in confusion.

"Trust you. You could be a double agent for the Light." Robin said.

Everyone in the room began to look uncomfortable. Nightwing looked as if he was about to speak up when Megan stood.

"I can check." she said, eyes glowing green. Conner tensed as Harley backed up.

"Hell no!" Harley snapped. "I _saw_ what you did to Psimon! You stay out of my head!"

Megan narrowed her eyes and held a hand out. Harley's eyes widened as her body began to go rigid. Conner pushed off the wall.

"She saved us." he stated.

Megan stopped and looked at him, causing Harley to let out a small gasp and double over. Nightwing jumped. He looked as though he was about to go check on her when Wally beat him to it.

"You alright?" he asked quietly, helping Harley up.

"My head hurts." Harley murmured.

"She's the one who brought us here, offered this base as a safe haven." Conner explained. "Look, we have no reason to trust Harley, but if she _was_ working for the Light, wouldn't it have been easier to turn us over during the explosion or let us _die_?"

Nobody said a word. Hartley cleared his throat.

"If I can add something," he said. "I've finished rewriting the security codes. This place can never be accessed by the Light now. I've basically linked it up to only allow access to members associated with the League. If we need to, I can transfer information of this place to the Watchtower. In other words, we're safe here."

"Thank you, Hartley." Nightwing said. "I know you've already done a lot for us, but is there any chance I can ask for another favor?"

"We'll do anything we can to help." Miguel said firmly.

"I need you guys to investigate recent disappearances. Talk to the families, find out if there's anything that could make the kids a target. As far as we know, they could have special abilities." Nightwing stated.

"We'll head out as soon as possible." Hartley replied.

Nightwing nodded. As he addressed everyone else, Conner noticed Harley slip out of the room. He silently followed her.

Harley pulled her keys out of her bag and unlocked her Navigator. As she was about to open the door, a voice stopped her.

"You're leaving?" Conner asked.

Harley hesitated. "I'm not welcome here. And, no offence, but I _really_ don't feel like being mind raped by your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend." Conner sighed. "Not anymore at least."

Harley raised a brow. "No? Last time I saw you two together, you guys were completely into each other."

"Yeah, well, a lot can change in five years." Conner snapped.

"Don't I know it." Harley snorted. "Then again, I shouldn't be surprised. I've had two failed relationships in the last few years alone."

"You need to talk about it?" Conner offered. He still didn't fully trust her, but he figured he might as well try to get to know her before jumping to any more conclusions.

"There's nothing _to_ talk about," Harley shrugged. "I had a great relationship with guy number one that ended with a major fight. Guy number two and I were friends first and started dating a few months later. Then it just kinda ended because of different reasons."

"Reasons being?"

"We just had disagreements on how to live our lives. We figured it'd be better if we broke up. I still keep in contact with him occasionally, so I guess we're still friends." Harley said.

They stood in silence for a while, Harley fiddling with her keys. Conner stuck out his hand.

"I'm Conner Kent." he said.

"Why are you telling me your name?" Harley asked.

"Because I trust you."

Harley looked surprised. She slowly reached out and shook his hand. She gave him a slight smirk.

"You sure you're not just trying to convince me not to leave?"she teased.

"We need as many heroes to help us as we can get." Conner admitted.

Harley laughed and began to walk to the base.

"I'm no hero," she said. "and at this point, heroes aren't really what you guys need. What you need is a cavalry."

_~~~"We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone." -Ronald_ Reagan~~~

Dinah paced around the living room. Oliver and Roy sat on the couch in silence. None of them could believe what had happened. Rain pelted the window loudly.

"The Watchtower already knows what happened," Oliver stated. "Nightwing was able to contact us."

"That doesn't change the fact three more kids were taken hostage," Roy sighed. "Not to mention we still don't know where R-_Arsenal_ is."

"Then why are we here?!" Dinah asked. "We should be out looking for him, or at the very least helping Nightwing."

"There isn't much we can do," Oliver said. "Besides, Nightwing can handle himself. He's probably already got the rest of the team somewhere safe."

"Or so we hope." Roy muttered. Dinah sent him a dark glare, causing Roy to hold his hands up in surrender.

"Is Jade still with her mother?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah, she took Lian to meet her. They'll be back tomorrow." Roy answered.

The chime of the doorbell caught everyone's attention. Oliver looked at the clock.

"Who would come here so late?" he murmured. "And in this weather, no less."

"Maybe Jade came back early." Roy suggested. The doorbell chimed again, multiple times. Roy got up and made his way into the foyer.

Roy opened the door and was shocked."Roy! What are you-"

"Forget about me!" Harper snapped. "Help her!"

Roy looked down and saw Harper clutching a girl in his arms. She looked dazed and was coughing badly. His eyes widened. Roy whirled around.

"DINAH! OLIVER! GET IN HERE AND CALL AN AMBULANCE!"


	4. Regrets Collect

Hey everyone! Here's the new chapter for this week! Just wanted to also wish you guys an early Happy Halloween! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any of these characters. If I did, I doubt it'd be as good as it is now. Have an Astrous Halloween guys!**

* * *

"So, let me get this straight," Oliver sighed. "You met this girl last night, saved her from some guy, took her in, and brought her to me because she was sick?"

Harper crossed his arms and slouched in his seat. "It wasn't just some guy."

"Who was it, a mugger?" Roy asked, raising a brow.

"No, it was..." Harper sighed. "It was her pimp."

Roy and Oliver's heads shot up and looked at Harper in shock. They'd been sitting in the hospital for a few hours now trying to get the story out of him.

"I don't know all the details, just that she escaped him last night and he went after her. I have no doubt he would've killed her if he'd gotten the chance."

"Jesus Christ." Roy groaned, rubbing his forehead.

"Roy-" Oliver began.

"_He's_ Roy," Harper said, nodding to his clone. "Call me Harper."

"_Harper_," Oliver corrected. "do you know anything else about her?"

"Just that her name is Mia Dearden and she ran away from home because of father issues." Harper rubbed the back of his neck. "And that she insisted on _not_ going to the hospital."

"She had an 102 degree fever," Dinah spoke as she entered the waiting room. "There was no way we couldn't take her here."

"What did the doctor say?" Oliver asked.

"He wanted to know who she was, I told him she was a new ward of yours." Dinah sat down. "He didn't ask anything else."

"How is she?" Harper asked quietly, causing the others to look at him in surprise.

"She's still asleep. But, her fever broke and she should be awake soon." Dinah said.

Harper let out a breath of relief. He looked aimlessly at the wall. "She's good with a bow."

"What?" Oliver asked.

"When we were in San Francisco a giant raccoon attacked us." Harper stretched out his arms for emphasis. "Mia grabbed my old bow and shot it."

Dinah and Roy shared a look. Oliver sighed, opening and closing his mouth in attempt to say something. Harper put his hands up.

"I'm not saying you should take her on as a side-kick," Harper said. "Especially since you just lost one recently. Mention it as a way to break the ice with her, I don't think she trusts people often."

Oliver fell silent and looked down at his hands. Roy stood up and pulled a phone out of his pocket.

"I'm gonna give Jade a call, tell her what's up." Roy announced, walking off.

Harper watched him go with a raised brow. "Who's Jade?"

Oliver and Dinah jumped and exchanged a look.

"We'll...explain that later, Harper." Oliver said.

Harper looked at him in confusion when a nurse walked over.

"Excuse me, are you here for Mia?" she asked.

"Yes, we are." Dinah answered. The nurse smiled.

"She's awake if you want to see her." the nurse said.

Harper stood up and followed her down the hall. Oliver and Dinah came shortly after.

"Now, she's in a bit of a bad mood," the nurse said, stopping outside the door. "Just a fair warning."

Harper rolled his eyes and entered the room. Mia sat in the bed with her arms crossed, glaring as Harper walked in. Harper snorted.

"So, I'm guessing you're mad at me."

"No, I'm _pissed_." Mia said bluntly. "I don't like hospitals."

"Yeah, well, deal with it," Harper sighed, sitting next to the bed. "You had an extremely high fever."

Mia pouted and looked at Dinah and Oliver. "Who are you?"

"I'm Dinah Lance," Dinah said, walking toward the bed. "And this is Oliver Queen, my boyfriend."

Mia shook Dinah's hand and looked at Oliver. "Oliver Queen as in the mayor of Star City?"

Oliver smiled slightly. "Yes. Not many people outside of Star City recognize my name."

"I've heard of you briefly." she smirked slightly. "I, uh, knew a couple of politicians."

Oliver shifted uncomfortably while Harper let out a short laugh. Dinah sent a small glare at Harper.

"Jade said they'd stop by the hospital. They're almost here." Roy announced, walking into the room.

"_Who_ is Jade?" Harper asked. Mia's eyes went wide.

"Whoa, Harper, is that your older brother? You guys look identical!"

Roy gave a quick 'yes' as Harper grumbled a 'no'. Mia raised a brow.

"The situation is complicated." Dinah said quickly.

Mia shrugged. "Good enough for me."

The room fell into an awkward silence. Mia grabbed the remote and turned the TV up, a broadcast of what had happened in Happy Harbor was on. Oliver's face fell.

"This is getting worse." he said quietly.

"Wally got a hold of Paula last night. Jade told me he said everyone was okay." Roy said.

Mia looked around for a moment. Her eyes widened slightly as she stared at everyone in the room. As the broadcast switched to the weather, Mia clicked the TV off.

"So, can I ask about the potential elephant in the room?" Mia asked.

Everyone looked at her in confusion.

"Sure?" Dinah said slowly.

Mia pointed at Oliver. "Are you Green Arrow?"

Oliver sputtered in shock. "W-Why would you ask that?!"

"Because I've only ever seen one blonde guy with a weird goatee like that." Mia said, rubbing her chin.

"Why does everyone hate the goatee?!" Oliver asked.

"You _told _her?!" Roy exclaimed.

"I didn't tell her anything!" Harper snapped.

"Whoa, wait, what?!" Mia shrieked. "I was totally joking! You're _actually_ Green Arrow?!"

As everyone in the room started yelling and arguing with each other, a woman cleared her throat.

"This is beginning to sound like _my_ family." Jade said, holding Lian in her arms. Everyone went quiet.

"Hey, Jade." Roy sighed.

"Who is Jade?!" Harper yelled. Lian turned her attention to Harper and let out a happy "Dada!"

Harper blanched. Oliver sighed heavily and closed the door.

"Alright, let's start from the beginning."

_~~~"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength." -Corrie Ten Boom~~~_

"Thank you again for meeting with us, Mr. Hawkins. We know how hard this must be for you." Hartley began, setting his glass on the coffee table.

Robert rubbed his face. "It's incredibly hard. I lost my wife to gang violence around six years ago and now my son is missing? It's killing me not knowing where he is."

"Do you know when Virgil went missing, Mr. Hawkins?" Hartley asked. Miguel pulled out his notebook and a pen.

"It had to have been around February." Robert sighed.

Miguel went rigid as he wrote down the date. He nudged Hartley slightly and showed him the notebook. Virgil was another person on their list that disappeared around February. Hartley narrowed his eyes and nodded slightly.

"Was he with anyone when he went missing?" Hartley questioned.

"Yes, actually. He was with his friend Richie." Robert said, casting a glance over his shoulder. Miguel and Hartley followed his gaze to a pale blond boy sitting silently on the stairs. Neither had noticed him enter the room.

"Mr. Hawkins," Miguel spoke up. "Did Virgil have any..._special _abilities?"

Richie tensed up slightly, it didn't go unnoticed by Miguel. Robert crossed his arms.

"Virgil's always been a smart kid. He's always stayed away from things that could get him into trouble. Like the Big Bang."

"The Big Bang?" Hartley asked.

"It happened about six months ago. There was going to be this huge gang fight on the docks, but the police arrived before it could get bad. Some gun fire went off and hit some toxic chemicals. There was a gas leak and some of the people there developed what you'd probably call 'special abilities'. They're called Bang Babies."

Hartley sputtered in shock as Miguel dropped his pen. Richie grabbed his head and tugged at his hair quietly before heading back up the stairs.

"H-Have you noticed any of these Bang Babies missing recently?" Hartley asked once he'd regained composure.

Robert narrowed his eyes. "Who are you boys anyway? You're obviously not with the police. I'll be honest, if you're reporters, I will not be happy."

"We're not reporters," Miguel said, taking a picture of Jaime out of his notebook. "This is my friend, Jaime Reyes. He went missing the other day. It's not like him to run away and I have a sinking feeling he was kidnapped."

Robert took the picture and nodded. "And you think your friend's disappearance could be linked to my son's?"

"At first, I thought someone might have messed with him to hurt me." Miguel started. "But, I noticed an unusually amount of missing children or runaway cases reported in February. I got this weird idea that they could be connected somehow and recruited my, uh, partner in crime over here to help me out."

"And you didn't go to the police?" Robert asked.

"No. Jaime is..." Miguel hesitated. "somewhat like a bang baby, I guess. I didn't want him to get locked away. Not to mention the police in our area don't really care if I report him missing due to my race and orientation."

Robert sighed heavily and gave Miguel the picture back. He shook his head.

"It's horrible that people can't get over something as simple as race or sexuality in this day and age. Tell you what, I'll put poster's of your friend around the civics center and see if anyone has any info."

"That's very kind of you, but we're actually from Texas." Miguel smiled softly.

Richie came darting down the stairs, grabbing his jacket by the door.

"I'm heading out, Mr. H." he said quickly, opening the door.

"Go home, Richie. I don't want you searching the streets at night." Robert said firmly.

"I hear you, Mr. H! Later!" Richie called, walking out.

Robert sighed. "He's been looking for Virgil since he disappeared. Poor kid's been going crazy trying to find him."

Hartley and Miguel exchanged a look.

"Do you boys have any place to stay for the evening?" Robert asked. "We have a guest room if you don't."

"No, thank you though." Miguel said.

"We actually have to take off soon. We're staying with a friend in town." Hartley smiled, standing up.

"Anybody I may know?" Robert asked.

"Depends on if you know Raquel Ervin." Miguel grinned.

"Raquel!" Robert laughed. "I haven't seen her since she was in high school! How is she? I heard she had a baby."

"Yeah, cute little baby boy named Amistad." Hartley chuckled.

"Well, tell her I said hello and that she should stop by the civics center sometime." Robert smiled.

"Will do, thank you again for your time, Mr. Hawkins." Hartley said as they walked out.

"Good luck, boys." Robert called.

Miguel waved goodbye as he watched the door closed. As soon as it had, he whirled toward Hartley.

"Okay, that is the fifth person in a row that said their kid went missing in February, this _can't_ be a coincidence."

"I agree. And did you see his friend?" Hartley asked.

"Oh, you mean how he was _freaking out_ every time we mentioned something related to powers?" Miguel exclaimed.

"I think he knows more that Mr. Hawkins thinks. I also have a feeling Virgil, if not _both_ of them, were at this big bang thing." Hartley said. Miguel peered over his shoulder and grabbed his arm.

"Cariño, look." Miguel whispered, pointing.

Hartley looked over his shoulder and saw Richie jogging down the street. He turned back to Miguel.

"Should we follow him?"

"I don't honestly see how else we're going to get information." Miguel sighed.

Both men waited until Richie turned a corner. They sent each other one last glance before heading down the street.

_~~~"It is more shameful to distrust our friends than to be deceived by them." -Confucius~~~_

Mal sighed and rubbed his face. It was difficult keeping tabs on the two squads without the cave's computer. He didn't know how to work the warehouse's computer as well. He felt someone tap his shoulder. As he turned in his seat, a cup of coffee was hovering in front of his face.

"Brought some coffee and aspirin. You look like you need it." Harley said, shaking the bottle of aspirin.

Mal took both, surprise etched into his features. "Thanks."

Harley shrugged and looked at the monitor. "Any updates?"

"Alpha squad's investigating the wreckage at Mount Justice," Mal said. "beta squad's still in Dakota, though."

"Can they even be called beta squad? It's only Hartley and Miguel." Harley asked.

"It's a covert thing. Basically if we get our transmission intercepted, the bad guys won't know who's on what squad." Mal explained.

"Makes sense." Harley murmured.

Mal paused for a moment before looking at her. "You told us you don't work with the Joker anymore. What's the story behind that?"

Harley looked at him in surprise before shifting uncomfortably. She looked everywhere but at him.

"It's a long, complicated story," she rubbed her neck. "let's just say I witnessed something that changed how I looked at him. He kicked me out later that night. It was probably around two years ago."

"Do you miss working with him?" Mal asked.

"Working with him, no. I do miss him in general at times. I mean, despite being a psychopath, he _is_ my dad." Harley admitted.

Before Mal could press any farther, Nightwing walked in with Cassie and Robin at his heels.

"There has to be _something_ we can do!" Cassie exclaimed.

"Yes, you can stay put." Nightwing sighed.

"But, we want to help! Let us go out and look for the others!" Robin pleaded.

"That's out of the question," Nightwing said. "we don't know if the Light will try to come for you two, you're safe here."

"This sucks!" Cassie yelled, storming out of the room. Robin hesitated and looked at Nightwing.

"We want to help." Robin said.

"I know you do, but we can't risk it." Nightwing replied.

Robin's mouth pressed into a thin line before he turned and followed Cassie. Nightwing let out a deep sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Trouble in paradise?" Harley asked. Nightwing sent a glare in her direction. Harley stuck her hands up in surrender.

"We're just trying to keep them safe." Wally said, entering the room.

"It's still probably killing them to stay put." Mal said.

"No kidding, if they're half as impulsive as we were at that age, we're going to have to tighten security." Nightwing groaned.

"I could set up motion sensors if they do try to leave." Harley offered.

"It wouldn't help, Robin would be able to hack them." Nightwing snorted.

"Harley, do you still have your costume?" Wally asked suddenly.

"Uh, not on me but it should still be where I left it." Harley said. "Why do you ask?"

"We need as much help as we can get. If you could get your costume, we could send you out for something." Wally suggested. He ignored the slight glare Nightwing sent him.

"I mean, I _could _go get it. There's just one problem." Harley sighed.

"Which is what?" Nightwing asked.

"I left it at the Joker's house. It'll still be intact but I need to go there to get it."

A thick silence filled the air.

"Absolutely not!" Nightwing said.

"You can't go get it." Mal cried.

"Not by yourself at least." Wally added.

"It's not a big deal," Harley laughed. "it's not like he's going to try and kill me."

"You still shouldn't go alone." Mal said.

Wally thought for a second before looking at Nightwing. He folded his arms and hid his smirk.

"Nightwing could go with you." he suggested.

"I'd rather risk my chances." Harley said bluntly.

"I have things I need to do here." Nightwing added.

"We've got things covered here," Mal said. "I'm keeping an eye on the squads and Wally can check the radar."

"Not to mention, I can also make sure Cassie and Robin don't do anything stupid." Wally smirked.

Nightwing looked like he was about to protest. When he saw that he wasn't going to get the chance, he rolled his eyes.

"I'll go get changed." he grumbled.

"I'll be waiting in the car," Harley said, heading to the door. She stopped and doubled back. "Right after I find my keys."

As Harley walked off, Wally rolled his eyes. Mal looked at him in confusion.

"They really don't like each other, do they?"

"They just have bad blood between them." Wally sighed.

"She said she was Nightwing's friend. Was she lying or something?" Mal asked.

"I honestly have no clue, the guy rarely tells me these kind of things." Wally said.

He bit the inside of his cheek. He knew it was a lie, he _did_ know the story behind those two. Hell, he probably knew more than anyone else. But, he wasn't going to out Nightwing's secret to anyone. Sure, he might be mad at Nightwing right now but he was still Wally's best friend.

Wally shook his head and walked away. "I'm gonna go check the radar."

"Alright, man." Mal said slowly. He sighed and turned back to the monitor. It was going to be a _long_ night.

_~~~"It is hardly possible to build anything if frustration, bitterness and a mood of helplessness prevail." -Lech Walesa~~~_

"Ugh! I hate this!" Cassie yelled, flopping on the bed. "They're treating us like _babies_!"

"I don't like it either, but we don't have much of a choice." Robin admitted.

It was true, Robin absolutely _hated_ having to stay put while his friends were in danger. But, it wasn't like they _knew_ where their friend's were being held. Otherwise, he'd be insisting on leaving now. Cassie sat up suddenly.

"What if we _do_ have a choice?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You know how to hack into the computers, right?" Cassie whispered.

"Well, yeah, it's one of the first things Nightwing taught me." Robin answered.

Cassie grinned. "What if we do our own search?! We could find them and rescue them as soon as we do!"

Robin hesitated. He _had_ been considering it to be honest. He considered it for a minute before sighing heavily.

"Even if we _did_ find them, it would be a really bad idea. The two of us against who knows how many bad guys."

Cassie pouted and pulled her legs to her chest. "Hypothetically, if we _could_ get more people to help us, do you think we'd have a better chance?"

"Anything's possible, I guess. I don't know how happy Nightwing and the others would be about it, though." Robin said.

Before Cassie could say anything else, the door opened. Nightwing walked in wearing his civies. Robin looked at him in surprise.

"You going somewhere?"

"I'm going on a small mission with Harley," Nightwing explained. "we need to get some stuff from the Joker's house."

Robin's eyes widened slightly. "You sure that's a good idea?"

"It'll only be a couple of hours, hopefully." Nightwing said. Robin could tell he wasn't happy but said nothing.

Harley poked her head into the room. "Hey, you guys know there's a training room down the hall, right? You don't have to stay in the rooms all day."

Nightwing gave an annoyed sigh and walked off. "We have to go. The sooner we get there, the better."

Harley rolled her eyes and tugged on her beanie. "Whatever. We'll be back by tomorrow at the latest."

"You better be." Cassie said, narrowing her eyes.

"Your blatant distrust for me is completely obvious," Harley shrugged. "But, understandable. Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt leader boy."

With that, she turned on her heels and left. Robin slumped against the door.

"She's right, I don't trust her."

"Neither do I, but it'd be pretty stupid of her to try and hurt Nightwing now that we all kinda know her." Cassie said.

"She _is_ the Joker's daughter, though. I wouldn't be surprised if she risked it." Robin said.

The two fell silent. Finally, Cassie stood.

"Come on, let's go check out the training room. It's not like we can _go_ anywhere." Cassie grumbled.

Robin sighed and followed her out. He silently wondered if he should start looking for potential recruits for the rescue mission.

_~~~"Regrets collect like old friends, here to relive your darkest moments..." -Florence + The Machine's "Shake It Out"~~~_

"Okay, let me see if I understand this." Mia said slowly. "Harper disappeared eight years ago and was cloned. Roy over here _is _said clone and has been living as Roy Harper. He's known as Red Arrow, sidekick of Green Arrow who's apparently Mr. Ollie Queen over there. Dinah's Black Canary and there was a girl named Artemis who was your sidekick but I guess _died_? You guys _found_ Harper recently, and he goes by Arsenal now. Now there's two Roy Harper's and I'm honestly starting to wonder if this is going to be like that _Will Grayson, Will Grayson_ book. Did I miss anything?"

"Yes," Jade said. "I'm Roy's wife, we have a daughter named Lian, and Artemis was my sister. I'm also a retired villian."

Mia slumped back in the bed and groaned. "This is some superhero Jerry Springer shit right here."

"You seem to understand everything pretty well, though." Oliver said.

"Wish I did." Harper grumbled. Mia gave him a sympathetic glance and reached out to touch his shoulder.

"Most people would be freaking out right now." Dinah said.

"Oh no, I'm totally freaking out," Mia admitted. "It's confusing as hell but I think it's kinda cool that I'm getting a chance to meet you guys. You've done a lot of good in the world. I guess what I'm trying to say is thanks."

"You don't need to thank us." Roy said. "Beside, we're not the _only_ heroes who are out there."

Mia let out a slight laugh. The nurse walked in holding a clipboard. She looked slightly troubled but had a smile on her face.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I need to talk to Mia and her legal guardians for a moment. Is that alright?"

Everyone exchanged a confused look. Mia's grip tightened slightly on Harper's shoulder.

"Why can't we hear what you have to say?" Harper asked.

"It's something private and important." the nurse said firmly. Oliver rubbed the back of his neck.

"She doesn't exactly have a legal-"

"Yes, it's fine." Mia said quickly, motioning to Oliver and Dinah. "They're my legal guardians."

Dinah sent her a slight smile as Oliver looked at her in surprise. Roy cleared his throat.

"We'll, uh, be waiting in the hall." he said, walking out with Jade and Lian.

Harper hesitated and looked at Mia. "You gonna be alright?"

"I'll be fine." she said, smiling.

Harper sighed and walked into the hall. He watched as the nurse closed the door. He turned and stood in awkward silence with Roy and Jade.

"Look, Harper," Roy sighed. "I know this is a lot to take in. And, I'm sorry you had to find out like this."

"Sorry for what?" Harper asked, looking at him. "I can't really be mad at you for being made or living. From what Dinah's told me, you didn't know you were a clone."

"I think Roy means he's sorry about Lian, and about me." Jade said.

Harper looked at them. He was supposed to be angry that someone was living his life, that someone who'd taken his place had a family. But, for some reason, he couldn't. He couldn't be mad at someone for _existing_, even if it _was_ his clone.

"I'm..." he paused. "I'm not mad. I'm shocked as hell, but, I'm not mad."

Roy looked at him in genuine surprise. Jade shifted Lian in her arms and walked forward.

"Do you want to hold her?"

Harper sucked in a breath and slowly reached his arms out. Lian squealed in delight and reached for him. Harper felt her wrap her arms around his neck and held her steady. It was strange, she was _technically_ his daughter. A small smile formed on his lips.

"I guess the only problem now is to figure out what to call you." Jade said.

"Uncle," Harper said immediately. "She can call me Uncle Harper."

"Are you sure?" Roy asked. "I don't mind sharing the 'dad' title."

"You're her biological father," Harper smiled. "Sure, she may have my DNA but you guys were the one who made her."

"You're taking this all really well." Jade chuckled.

Harper stared at her for a moment. "I'm really sorry about what happened to your sister. She sounded like a great person."

Jade frowned and glared at the ground. "I should've been there. I should've protected her."

"None of us could've know it was going to happen." Roy said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Harper stared at them for a moment. Suddenly, Lian began to squirm, startling Harper. He readjusted his grip as he desperately tried to keep hold on the infant. The last thing he wanted was to drop her.

"Um...I may need a little help here." he said.

Roy cracked a small smile and took his daughter. The door to Mia's room opened as the nurse walked out. Oliver and Dinah followed, looking drained. Oliver slowly closed the door to Mia's room. Harper could tell something was up.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Oliver looked at him and shook his head. "Mia wants to tell you herself, Harper. Give her a minute though. She's still trying to take it in."

"What happened? Is she alright?" Roy asked. Dinah shook her head and motioned for Roy and Jade to follow her.

Harper watched them go and placed a hand on the door handle. Oliver put his hand on his shoulder.

"Harper," he said slowly. "she's kinda shook up. Don't press her for information until she's ready to tell you, okay?"

Harper's eyes widened. He had no clue what was going on, but he was suddenly fearful to find out. He nodded slowly before opening the door. Mia was looking aimlessly out the window. He walked over and sat next to her bed.

"Mia, are you alr-"

"We're on the twelfth Doctor." she interrupted suddenly.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Mia looked at him and gave a small smile. "Doctor Who. We're on the twelfth Doctor now. It's one of the things you missed in the past eight years. We could catch up later on it, I don't mind re-watching part of the series."

"So, does that mean you're taking Ollie up on his offer to be your legal guardian?" Harper asked.

"Might as well," Mia shrugged. "I don't really wanna go back to working the streets."

"You're taking this all really well." Harper said.

"It's not the weirdest political scandal I've ever heard," Mia chuckled. "It's not the creepiest either, believe it or not."

Harper let out a small smile. Mia started fiddling with a folded piece of paper in her hands. It caught Harper's attention. Every fiber of his being wanted to ask about it, but he let it be. Mia swallowed thickly.

"Thank you for rescuing me the other night," she said quietly. "I don't think I would've lived longer if you hadn't came. Not many people would probably help a hooker."

"You don't need to thank me," Harper said. "And stop calling yourself that. You're not going back to that life anymore."

Mia drew her knees up to her chest and shook slightly. When she looked back up, Harper could see eyes eyes wet with tears.

"The clients don't care," she said shakily. "they think your self worth is low anyway, so they treat you like an object. A thing they can pay for and be done with. None of them give a damn if you get hurt as long as they feel good."

Harper sat silently, not sure what to do. "Mia, you're not going to go back there. You're safe now."

"I'm always going to be haunted by it, in more ways than one." she said. She shakily picked up the paper she'd been holding and handed it to him.

Harper took it from her. He opened it and skimmed it. Harper felt his heart drop as he looked at her.

"They ran a blood test last night when I came in. They just got the tests back." Mia curled in on herself and shook violently. "I should've know when I was getting sick all the time! God, I'm disgusting."

An alarm went off in Harper's head. "No!"

Mia looked up, eyes filled with tears.

"You are _not_ disgusting." Harper said. "It's not your fault those sick bastards took advantage of you and didn't give a shit about your health."

"I have HIV, Harper! I don't even know _when_ I contracted it!" Mia shouted.

"That doesn't mean you're disgusting!" Harper insisted. "Look, it sucks that this happened to you, it really does. But you've got to realize that it's not your fault."

Mia stayed silent for a moment. "Do you think Oliver's still gonna take me in?"

"Of course he is," Harper said softly. "We're not gonna leave you behind because of this, Mia."

Mia nodded slightly before looking at him. "Can I ask for a favor?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"I-I don't know if you're, um, touchy-feely or whatever, but I really need a hug," she rubbed her eyes. "I-I mean, I understand if you don't feel comfortable with it, though."

Harper wordlessly stood up and moved to sit on the bed. He hesitated for a moment before wrapping his arms around her shoulders. Mia gave a small thanks. Her shoulder's shook as sobs wracked her body. She raised her hands and gripped onto Harper's metallic arm.

Harper sighed softly and rested his cheek against her head. He heard the door open and watched Oliver slowly walk in with Dinah in tow. Dinah walked wordlessly to the bed and sat at the edge, resting her hand on Mia's knee. Roy and Jade came in shortly after.

"Are you going to be okay?" Jade asked quietly.

Mia sniffled and looked up. "Eventually. I just really want to leave and go home."

"The nurse is checking with the doctor to see if you can be discharged," Oliver said. "She should be here soon."

Mia smiled slightly. "Awesome."

Mia tightened her grip on Harper's arm, unknowingly pushing a button. Suddenly, the palm opened up and blasted a hole through the wall. A shriek was heard outside. Everyone froze. Roy quickly looked outside the room.

"I thought only you could operate it!" Mia cried.

"So did I!" Harper exclaimed.

"Who screamed?!" Dinah demanded.

"The nurse," Roy answered. "She's alright though. Just scared shitless. Nobody else is hurt."

"Well, it looks like you're gonna get discharged much sooner than we thought." Jade said. Lian clapped and squealed in delight.

_~~~"Curiosity is lying in wait for every secret." -Ralph Waldo Emerson~~~_

"Where is this kid going?" Miguel hissed as they followed Richie down yet another abandoned street.

"I have no clue." Hartley said.

They'd been following him for a little over an hour now with no luck. Richie just seemed to wander aimlessly through the streets.

"Maybe he's just looking for Virgil." Miguel whispered. "Maybe he actually _doesn't_ know anything."

Before Hartley could respond, he noticed Richie stop. He grabbed Miguel by the hand and pulled him around the corner. He waited for a minute before peeking his head out. He saw Richie look around briefly before jogging into an abandoned gas station.

"Bingo." Hartley said.

He and Miguel walked around the corner and slowly approached the gas fell into a crouch as Miguel looked through the window.

"See anything?"

"He's alone." Miguel answered, dropping down. "He's got a weird spider thing with him, but that's it."

A loud beeping came from inside. Hartley stood.

"Well, we might as well go in."

He slowly opened the door and walked in. No sooner had he entered did a ball shaped object hit him, releasing metal coils that wrapped around him.

"Shit!" he said as he hit the ground.

Miguel sprinted in and saw Richie running for the other door. He shot his hand out and made a wall in front of the door. Richie gasped and slid to a shock. He whirled around and raised another one of the objects to throw.

"S-Stay back!" he said.

"Calm down, niño. We're not here to hurt you." Miguel said calmly.

Richie seemed to recognize him and lowered his arm. "You were the guys at Virgil's house. Y-You're metahumans!"

"Yes, we are. But, we're here to help you. We're with the Justice League." Miguel said. "We just need to ask you some things about Virgil's kidnapping."

"Can you let me up first?" Hartley called, trashing on the floor.

Richie hesitated for a moment before walking over and pushing the release. Hartley stood up with a groan.

"What do you guys need to know?" Richie asked slowly.

"We need to know if you saw who took him." Miguel started.

"But, more importantly, we need to know if you or Virgil have any powers." Hartley finished.

Richie went pale. He backed up slightly.

"Richie, we _need_ to know. Virgil may've been a target because of it. _You_ could be a target." Miguel said.

"Are you going to tell our parents?" Richie asked. Miguel and Hartley shared a look.

"Not unless you want us to." Hartley promised.

"Okay." Richie breathed. "I'll tell you what you need to know."


	5. Thicker Than Water

Hey everyone! Sorry this chapter was posted a little late this weekend. I got caught up doing a project for school and didn't get a chance to write until late this afternoon. So, sorry about that and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters. I do own Lorraine though (and this may be the last time you see her in this fanfiction, unless something comes up). Hope you all had an asterous Halloween!**

**Note: The carnival ride called The Zipper is real. If you haven't been on it or don't know what it is, you may want to look it up. If you do know what it is and have been on it, I hope you are not like me and do not get sick/utterly freaked out on it.**

* * *

The entire drive to Gotham had been silent. Besides a few sighs and coughs, neither Harley nor Nightwing said a word. The tension was thick between them. It wasn't until Harley turned into a residential area did Nightwing speak up.

"Why are you back?"

"Why do you care?" Harley shot back. "My life obviously doesn't concern you."

Nightwing's jaw tightened. He let out a deep breath and glared at her. He didn't care if he got an answer from her or not. At this point, he was _beyond_ caring.

"I was just trying to make conversation." he muttered.

Harley sent a slight glance to him. She let out a sigh. "Oregon wasn't working out. Got bored of it pretty fast. Plus, I was getting a little homesick for the East Coast."

Nightwing looked at her. "Oregon? That's where you've been this whole time?"

"Yeah, it was a little town outside of Portland. Nice place out there, but it was never home."

Nightwing bit the inside of his cheek. Harley looked at him and snorted.

"I know what you're probably thinking," she said. "The answer's no. I'm not back to live with the Joker. I dropped all contact with him when I got kicked out."

That seemed to catch Nightwing's attention. His head shot up and stared at her in surprise.

"Kicked out? The Joker kicked you out?"

Harley tightened her jaw and gripped the wheel tighter. "Yeah. I did. We got into a huge...debate and he told me it'd be better if I left."

Nightwing's gaze softened slightly. At that moment, it was like they were kids again telling each other information without really giving compromising facts away.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You never gave me the chance to." Harley answered softly.

"Harley..." Nightwing began softly. Harley shook her head and put the car in park. She was out the door before he could utter another word.

"We're here." she said shortly before closing the door. Nightwing sighed and stepped out of the car. As he closed the door, he looked around in confusion. They were standing in the parking lot of a playground. He looked at Harley for an explanation.

"I didn't want him to see my car if he's home. It'd make it easier for him to track us." Harley said.

She turned and began to walk toward the row of identical houses. Nightwing looked around. It wasn't a bad neighborhood. It seemed safe enough. He couldn't imagine the Joker lived here.

"Most of these houses are single family homes," Harley said suddenly. "But there are some that have been converted into two-decker houses. Kinda like a duplex, but stacked on top of each other. Like the one the Joker and I lived in."

"Seems a little calm for the Joker." Nightwing said.

"What, were you expecting us to live in Blüdhaven or something? We may've been criminals but we weren't _that_ bad! If you die in Blüdhaven, going to hell is considered a promotion!" Harley ranted.

"_I_ live in Blüdhaven." Nightwing said slowly.

"Ah, see, fits perfectly!" Harley smirked. Nightwing scoffed and crossed his arms. Harley turned the corner and stopped.

"Perfect," she breathed. "he's not here. Now we can get in and get out before-"

She stopped abruptly, sucking in a breath. Nightwing tensed, thinking she'd been wrong. But, when he looked across the street, all he could see was an elderly woman in a robe watering her garden in the early morning light. When he looked back to Harley, he saw tears in her eyes. She started walking as if on auto-pilot into the street. Nightwing shot his hand out and yanked her back as a car zoomed past. Harley jumped, shocking her out of her thoughts.

"Are you _trying_ to get yourself killed?!" Nightwing hissed.

"S-Sorry," Harley stuttered. "That woman's our landlady. She was like a grandmother to me. I haven't seen her since I left."

Nightwing sighed and looked up and down the street. He kept a hand on her shoulder as they crossed the street. As soon as they were across, Harley slipped out of his grasp and walked towards the woman. It was clear she hadn't seen Harley yet. Harley took a shaky breath and spoke up.

"Lorraine."

The woman jumped slightly at the sound of her name. She turned and dropped her watering can, bringing her hands to her mouth.

"Harley?" she whispered in disbelief. "Little Harleen Reynard?"

Harley let out a short laugh. "I go by Harley Quinzel now."

Lorraine said nothing as she grabbed Harley and pulled her into a tight hug. Nightwing watched silently as Harley hugged her back. Tears came out of Lorraine's eyes as she pulled away, taking Harley's face in her thin hands.

"Look at you," she exclaimed. "You're beautiful! Oh, we've missed you so much, baby girl."

"How's my dad?" Harley whispered.

Lorraine gave her a sad smile. "He regrets sending you away and thinks of you every day. But, he's doing well."

Harley nodded silently. Lorraine looked over Harley's shoulder and spotted Nightwing.

"And who's this young man?" she asked.

Harley looked as if she'd forgotten about Nightwing completely.

"This is John Blake," she answered quickly. "He's my, um..."

"Boyfriend. I'm her boyfriend." Nightwing said automatically. He mentally slapped himself as soon as the words left his mouth, especially when Harley gave him an incredulous look.

"It's very nice to meet you." Lorraine said. "Now, what brings you two back here?"

"I actually came to get some stuff from the house that I left." Harley replied. "But, seeing that dad isn't home and I don't really have a key..."

"Oh, that's no problem." Lorraine said, motioning for them to follow her. She pulled a set of keys from her pocket and led them up the steps. As Harley and Nightwing waited on the porch in silence, Lorraine unlocked the front door.

"There you are. Take as long as you need. I'll be downstairs if you need me." Lorraine squeezed Harley's shoulder as she left. "Just say goodbye to me before you go this time."

"I will." Harley promised. As soon as Lorraine was out of sight, she and Nightwing entered the house. Harley locked the door behind her.

To say Nightwing was surprised was putting it mildly. The house was very tidy and neat, with absolutely no indication that Gotham's notorious psychopath lived here at all. Nightwing turned and saw Harley looking through the fridge and freezer.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Making sure there isn't any body parts in here," she said. "Not that there have been before, but it's better safe than sorry."

She closed the doors and walked into the living room slowly. She turned down the hall and paused at a closed door. Nightwing noticed.

"You alright?"

"It's just weird being back here after two years." Harley turned the handle and shoved the door open. If the audible pop and layer of dust on everything was anything to go by, it was obvious nobody had been in there for a while.

Harley smiled softly. "It's just how I left it."

As she opened her closet, Nightwing noticed the pictures on her dresser. He picked one up and stared at it. It was a picture of Harley, probably no more than five or six, with her hair in pig-tails and a huge smile on her face. She was in the arms of someone Nightwing hardly recognized. The man had dark brown, unruly hair and kind eyes. But, what made him stand out were the ugly, jagged scars running from the corners of his mouth to his cheek bones.

"Is this him?" Nightwing asked softly. "Is this the Joker holding you?"

Harley walked out of her closet, costume in hand. She looked at the picture and frowned.

"Yeah, that's us. That was taken shortly after he adopted me."

"I didn't know he had those scars." Nightwing murmured.

"He uses a lot of makeup to cover them up while in his Joker persona." Harley answered. "It's kinda a recognizable feature, you know?"

Nightwing nodded wordlessly as Harley knelt to fold her costume into her bag. He noticed a piece of paper sticking out from under the mattress. Curious, he pulled it out and froze.

It was a picture of them, taken when they were about sixteen, sitting on a double seat on the swing ride at the carnival. This one was different from the other ones they'd ever taken together. In this picture, Nightwing didn't have on his sunglasses and Harley wasn't wearing her beanie. It had been taken after they'd exposed who they were to each other. In the picture, Nightwing had his arm around Harley's waist as Harley rested her head on his shoulder, smiling joyfully at the camera.

"Do you remember that day?" Harley asked quietly, causing Nightwing to jump. "We ditched school that day just to go to the carnival miles outside of Gotham. We went there so nobody would recognize us and we could just be normal teenagers for a day."

"You got freaked out when we went on the Zipper and almost lost your voice from screaming." Nightwing murmured.

"Yeah," Harley smiled slightly. "It was one of the best days I'd ever had."

She silently pulled the picture out of his hands and put it in her bag. Nightwing looked down and frowned. He pulled off his sunglasses and set them on the top of his head, not wanting to be undercover right now.

Harley was staring at the pictures on her dresser when she felt her beanie gently pulled from her head, her long blonde hair spilling out. Harley turned and felt her breath catch in her throat when she saw Dick's familiar blue eyes looking down at her, her beanie grasped in his hand. Dick dropped the beanie on the ground and cupped her face in his hands.

"What are you doing?" Harley whispered, putting a hand on his chest.

"Harley, I-" Dick started.

A car door slammed shut outside, causing them to freeze. When they heard Lorraine talking to someone downstairs, they bolted into motion. Dick pulled his sunglasses back on as Harley swore and grabbed her beanie off the ground.

"He's back!" she hissed.

"Yeah, I figured as much!" Nightwing snapped.

"Don't sass me, birdy boy!" Harley snapped back. "We gotta get out of here."

As they started out of the bedroom, they heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Harley grabbed Nightwing's wrist and opened a door in the hall.

"Quick, hide in the closet!"

"Harley, there is no way I'm going to fit in there!" Nightwing hissed in protest.

"Then suck in your fat ass and get in there! You were in the fucking circus, for God's sake!" Harley snarled, trying to push him in.

"I was an acrobat not a contortionist!" Nightwing snapped. "This can't even be called a closet! It is a door with _shelves_ inside! This is a cupboard!"

"Deal with it!" Harley growled, shoving him under one of the shelves. She closed to door quickly, ignoring Nightwing's shout of pain as the door collided with his head.

The front door unlocked and creaked open. Harley stood frozen, gripping the strap of her bag. A tired looking man walked in with a loud sigh. He set his keys on the table before finally catching sight of Harley. He went rigid.

"Harley?" he whispered in shock.

Harley stood up straight before letting out the breath she'd been holding. "Hi, dad."

_~~~"The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance." -Nathaniel Branden~~~_

"We were hanging out in the junk yard past curfew," Richie said. "Virgil wanted to show me some new tricks he'd been practicing, like lifting cars up with his powers and what not. I guess someone saw us, because next thing I knew, some big guy came out of nowhere and grabbed him. Virgil got free once and told me to run."

"What did you do?" Hartley asked.

"I ran," Richie answered. "I thought Virgil was behind me until I heard him fighting. I wanted to go back for him, but he kept telling me to run. I should've gone back for him."

Richie looked at the ground dejected. The regret was written all over his face.

"We have reason to believe Virgil is alive, and we may know where he is." Miguel spoke up suddenly.

Richie's head shot up. "Really?!"

"It's just a hunch," Hartley said quickly. "but it's a good one."

"You said that Virgil showed you his powers, what were they?" Miguel asked.

"He's can control electricity," Richie chuckled. "I started calling him Static because everything kept sticking to him after the Big Bang."

"So he _was_ at the Big Bang?" Hartley questioned.

"Oops." Richie said, color draining from his face.

"Hey, we're not judging you," Miguel assured. "We just want to know _where_ he got them."

"Virgil wasn't exactly there voluntarily," Richie explained. "he got into a beef with some jerk from school and one of the gang leaders offered him protection. Virgil went to the docks to turn him down, but the fight had already started. Then the whole mess with the chemicals happened and next thing we know, Virgil's got powers."

"And you guys never told Virgil's father because of what happened to his mom six years back, right?" Hartley asked.

"The last thing Virgil wanted was to worry his dad even more than normal. Bang Babies aren't exactly model citizens here. There's a big misconception that we got really messed up by the gas and are all violent and destructive." Richie answered.

"By 'we', does that mean you too?" Miguel asked.

"I wasn't _at_ the Big Bang," Richie hesitated. "But, yeah, I'm a Bang Baby. Virgil's clothes reeked of the stuff after it happened, and it probably didn't help that I borrowed the jacket he wore to the Big Bang the next day. I only discovered my powers about a week or two after Virgil was taken."

Hartley shared a look with Miguel. He held up a finger to ask Richie to wait and motioned for Miguel to lean down.

"Should we tell Nightwing about him?" Hartley whispered.

"It could be dangerous if the Light finds out Richie has powers too," Miguel replied. "But, it's not like we can just take him and make him hide out with the other freshies."

"You guys said you might know where Virgil is, right?" Richie said suddenly.

"We have an _idea_ but not an exact location." Miguel answered.

"I want in." Richie said. "I want to be apart of Virgil's rescue. I don't care if I have to train, practice my powers or what. I want...I _need_ my best friend back."

Miguel smiled softly. "We may actually be able to arrange that."

Richie smiled and looked utterly relieved. Hartley cleared his throat.

"We'll probably be able to bring you in as soon as tomorrow," Hartley said. "But, it'll be up to you whether you tell your parents about it or not."

"NO!" Richie shouted, wincing at the volume. "No, my parents can't know about this. They'd freak out."

"It's understandable," Miguel said. "many parents would be concerned over their child's safety."

"It's not just that," Richie sighed heavily. "My mom might learn to accept it after a while, but I can't say the same about my dad. He can't _stand_ Bang Babies. Not to mention he got mad when he found out Virgil was black. He's not the most open-minded person when it comes to things like metahumans, race...or sexuality."

The last part came out in such a soft whisper that Hartley and Miguel nearly missed it. They shared a look and felt their hearts go out for the younger boy. Miguel looked around and grabbed a pen and paper.

"Then you ___definitely_ don't have to tell them," Hartley said. "the team would be glad to have you, Richie. We need as much help as we can get."

"We'll welcome you with open arms too," Miguel added. "nobody really cares about race, religion, or sexuality. We've all learned to accept each other."

Richie looked up at him and gave a small smile. Miguel returned it and gave him the slip of paper.

"These are our cell phone numbers in case you need to contact us. We'll try to come back tomorrow and let you know if you can join."

Richie took the piece of paper and wrote down his number on Miguel's hand.

"Just out of curiosity, what're _your_ powers?" Hartley asked.

"I'm a technopath." Richie grinned. "I've made a couple of things, like the zap-cap you got tangled in earlier. I also made Back-Pack."

"Back-Pack?" Miguel asked.

Richie beamed and motioned to the spider-like device on the table. It perked up and swung its metallic eye towards them.

"It's a scouting robot I can control. Pretty neat, huh?"

"That is amazing!" Hartley said in awe.

Miguel laughed. "You two will get along great. But, for now, why don't we walk you home? It's way too late for you to stay out here alone."

Richie nodded and stood up. He turned toward the men and smiled.

"I never did catch your names." he said.

"Miguel Barragan," Miguel smiled, slinging an arm around Hartley's shoulder. "and this is my boyfriend, Hartley Rathaway."

Hartley turned bright red as Richie's mouth dropped open in shock. Miguel let out a laugh.

"I told you, the team is very accepting of people. You'll fit right in." Miguel grinned.

"Thank you." Richie said softly.

_~~~"To a father growing old nothing is dearer than a daughter." -Euripides~~~_

Harley stood motionless as she stared at the man she hadn't seen for the last two years. Her body was tensed to run in case he struck.

But, the Joker did nothing of the sort. He slowly sat his bag on the ground and walked toward her. Without another word, he wrapped his arms around her and let out a sob. Harley let out the breath she'd been holding and hugged him back.

"You shouldn't be here." he said.

"I know, I just had to come and get something." Harley replied, throat tight with tears.

"I'm losing myself more each day." he murmured.

"I know you are. I'm not staying for long." Harley whispered.

The Joker pulled back and looked her over.

"You're safe though? You aren't hurt, haven't been getting yourself into anymore trouble?"

"I'm fine, dad." Harley answered, looking over her shoulder. "I have someone with me."

The Joker looked at her curiously as she walked to the cupboard door. She opened it and helped Nightwing out, earning a very nasty look from him. The Joker sighed heavily.

"Harley, please don't tell me he was in there this whole time."

"It would be a lie if I said no." Harley admitted.

Nightwing rolled his eyes as the Joker rubbed his forehead.

"Harley, you can't shove guests into the cupboard," he sighed and offered Nightwing a hand. "Terribly sorry for that. I'm Jack Reynard."

"John Blake," Nightwing said stiffly, shaking his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Reynard."

"Please, call me Jack," he said. "I'm assuming you're a friend of Harley's."

"Boyfriend." Harley corrected quietly.

Nightwing felt Jack's grip tighten before releasing his hand. Jack stepped back and cleared his throat.

"Well, I will not keep you. I can imagine you two need to leave."

Harley nodded silently before hugging him. Jack hugged her tightly before letting her go, tears in his eyes. It was odd for Nightwing to see someone like the Joker to look so human.

"Bye, dad. I love you." Harley said before walking out the door.

Nightwing nodded his goodbye and started out the door. Jack grabbed his shoulder.

"Take care of my daughter. Don't let anything happen to her." Jack said.

Nightwing stood frozen for a moment before he nodded. "I will. I'll keep her safe."

Jack released his shoulder and nodded. Nightwing made his way down the stairs in time to see Harley saying her goodbyes to Lorraine. Nightwing jogged to catch up to her as she walked quickly down the street. He looked back and saw Lorraine standing in her front yard waving goodbye. Nightwing waved back and continued to follow Harley.

As the got near the car, Harley dropped her bag on the ground and ripped off her jacket. She shoved it in a nearby trash can before picking her bag back up.

"He slipped a tracker in my pocket." Harley said shakily. "I felt it. He's losing his touch."

"What did he mean when he said he's losing himself?" Nightwing asked.

"He lost himself a long time ago." Harley murmured. She pulled out her keys and struggled to unlock the navigator. Nightwing finally walked over and took the keys from her.

"I'll drive."

Harley nodded silently and crawled into the passenger's seat. As Nightwing started the car, he looked over at her.

"When did he lose himself?"

"At the warehouse two years ago," Harley answered. "that was his turning point."

Nightwing gripped the steering wheel tightly and squeezed his eyes shut. Raw, angry emotion flooded through him. He knew what incident she was talking about. He put the car in gear and refused to look at her as they took off.

_~~~"Love is not the feeling of happiness. Love is a willingness to sacrifice." -Michael Novak~~~_

Bart grunted as the guards released him from his pod. He stood motionless as they activated the inhibitor collar around his neck. He looked over at Gar and Raven when were having their own collars turned on.

"You have one hour to eat," the guard snarled, shoving plates of what Bart guessed was food at them. "No funny business."

"Like there's anything we can do." Tye snorted.

Bart sent him a warning look before sitting on the ground.

"Do you think Blue's alright?" Gar asked quietly.

"I don't know." Bart admitted.

Gar looked down sadly. Bart reached out and touched his shoulder.

"Just try to eat." he murmured. Gar nodded and poked at his 'food'. Bart looked around and watched the other boys attempt to eat. When his eyes fell on Raven, he raised a brow.

"Not hungry?" he asked.

"I don't eat a lot." she said quietly.

"You should still try, to keep your strength up! It's probably not even that bad.," Bart grinned and took a bite of the goop. "Mmmm, it tastes like waffles."

It was a lie. It was probably one of the most disgusting things Bart had ever tasted. But, anything to get the girl to eat something. Raven raised her brow and took a bite, wincing at the taste.

"If this is what waffles taste like, I don't think I like them." Raven said.

"Well, I choose to taste waffles." Bart said simply. "See? They're choking it down alright!"

"We've gotten used to it." Tye said.

"Yeah, we've been here for a few months now." the other boy added.

"Don't think I ever caught your name, amigo!" Bart said suddenly.

The boy jumped and looked down. "Virgil. My name's Virgil."

"Coolio! I'm Bart!" Bart grinned. "That's Gar over there! And I'm pretty sure this little girl over here's Raven, if I remember correctly."

"I am Raven, yes." she said.

"I'm Tye." Tye spoke up. "And I want to know where they took Jaime."

"Ah, Blue's probably fine." Bart said, shoving a mouthful of food in his mouth. He didn't want to admit that he was truly afraid for his friend's life.

"Why do you keep calling him Blue?" Tye asked.

"Oops," Bart choked out. "Spoilers."

Before Tye could speak again, the doors slid open. When Bart saw who entered, he nearly choked on his food. The guards stood at attention.

"Welcome, Kaldur'ahm." one said.

"At ease." Kaldur commanded. "I have come to see the captives."

"Sir, these are the ones with active metagenes. We have separated them from the other captives." the second guard explained.

"Good, but I do believe there was another that was supposed to be here. Where is he?" Kaldur asked.

"Yeah!" Gar shouted, jumping to his feet. "Tell us where our friend is!"

"Shut your mouth, kid!" the woman standing next to Kaldur snapped. Bart stared at her for a long time, unable to shake the feeling that there was something familiar about her.

"Not until you tell us where he is!" Gar growled.

As soon as one of the guards started for him, Bart bolted to his feet and pulled Gar behind him. He stood his ground as the guard glared down at him.

"He has been taken to another room." the first guard explained. "the commander requested some tests be done on him."

"Interesting. I was expecting them to be together." Kaldur said.

"You expected wrong, traitor!" Gar snapped.

"Garfield!" Bart hissed.

"Insolent little brat!" the second guard snarled. "You will pay for your disrespect!"

"Leave him alone," Bart snapped. "He's just a kid, he doesn't know any better. If you wanna hurt someone for his mistake, make it me."

Gar looked at Bart in shock. The guard grinned cruelly and dragged Bart away from him. Gar was about to bolt forward when Tye grabbed him, holding him back.

"Such a foolish child." the second guard laughed. "Willing to protect those who will die first anyway."

Bart glared at him and felt a knee connect with his stomach. He collapsed on the ground, feeling the wind knocked out of him. The guard drew back his leg.

"Enough!" Kaldur snapped. "Leave him be."

The guard grumbled and walked away. Bart clutched his stomach and looked up dazed as Kaldur walked toward him. For a moment, he'd forgotten where he was. For a moment, he saw another man standing above him. A man with black dreadlocks and dark skin looking down at him with concern written all over his face. A man who looked very much like Kaldur.

"I knew your son," Bart murmured to himself, so quietly that no one else heard him. His mind drifted off to a place that seemed so far away as his eyes slipped shut.

_"There is nowhere to hide, meat!" Blue Beetle howled._

_Irey gritted her teeth and gripped Bart's hand tighter as the sped away. Bart was panting in terror. He knew they needed to get to safety. Fast._

_Irey gasped and grabbed Bart as they skidded to a halt. They'd reached the edge of a cliff. Bart looked down and saw the waves crashing below them. There was no way they would make it if they jumped._

_"What do we do?!" Bart asked._

_Irey drew him closer to her as Blue Beetle came crashing through the forest. She tightened her jaw and pulled Bart behind her as she looked for something._

_"Come on..." she hissed._

_Bart saw Blue Beetle land and begin to stalk towards them. He gripped Irey's jacket tight in fear. He suddenly felt her jump as if she spotted something. She put her arms around him and backed up._

_"Bart there are three things a speedster needs to remember," she said slowly, as if to distract him. "one, bright colors attract the human eye. Two, the faster you go, the heavier you are. Three, never, under any circumstances, have long hair."_

_Blue Beetle was just a few feet in front of them now. He raised his plasma cannon and waited for it to charge. Bart's eyes widened in fear._

_"When I say so, jump and hold your breath. Do not let go of me." Irey said quietly._

_Before Bart could ask what she meant, a dark object struck Blue Beetle. The object exploded on impact and was followed by about a dozen more. Bart saw two dark clothed figures far away for a brief moment before a pillar of water exploded behind them._

_"JUMP!" Irey yelled, pulling them over the edge and into the pillar of water._

_Bart barely had the chance to hold his breath before they were sucked into the water and jolted downward. Just as Bart was sure he was going to black out, a hand bolted out of nowhere and yanked him out of the pillar. _

_He gasped for air and coughed. He had no idea what had just happened. He felt a hand on his back._

_"Bart, you alright?" _

_He looked up and saw Irey kneeling in front of him. He nodded breathlessly and looked around in shock. They were in what seemed like a pocket of air under the water. His eyes settled on a man near by with dark skin holding a strange handle shaped object in one hand._

_"Who's that?" he whispered._

_Irey helped him up and smiled. "Bart, this is my good friend, Jackson Hyde. He's the son of Kaldur'ahm, the Aqualad that was around when my dad was Kid Flash."_

_Jackson nodded and smiled. He looked at Irey. "We're going to rendezvous with Batman and Nightwing back at the haven. I saw them make it out of there safe."_

_Irey looked relieved. "Thank you, Jackson."_

_"Where are we going?" Bart asked._

_"Somewhere Blue Beetle can't find us." Irey answered._

_"You're safe with us, Bart. We're going to take care of you." Jackson added. _

"I knew your son..." Bart whispered again.

"What was that?" Kaldur asked, frowning.

Bart hesitated. "I always knew you were some piece of shit."

Kaldur's frown deepened as Bart stared up at him. This couldn't be the same man Jackson used to talk about all the time, the same man Jackson was proud to call his father.

"You are either very brave or very stupid," Kaldur hissed. "You are lucky you are not going to be punished."

"Leave him alone." Virgil snapped, stepping forward.

Kaldur stood and looked at him curiously. "Or you will do what?"

"Leave him alone," Virgil's hand began to spark with electricity. "Or I'm gonna put a shock to your system."

"Virgil, don't!" Bart grunted, sitting up. "I'm fine. Stand down."

Virgil tightened his fists, but willed the electricity away. Kaldur narrowed his eyes and walked away.

"You are lucky this time," Kaldur said. "Next time, you will not be."

As he exited the room, the guards stepped forward.

"Alright! Everyone, back in your pods!"

Bart grunted in pain as he stood up. As the pod locked up, he silently vowed he'd find a way to get them all out of this mess.

_~~~"What will it take for me to make you see, I'm not your enemy." -Jesse McCartney's "Not Your Enemy"~~~_

It wasn't until that evening when Nightwing and Harley finally got back to the warehouse. It was a tense ride back, not one word had been spoken. Nightwing parked the navigator toward the back and ripped the keys from the ignition.

"Someone's angry." Harley muttered.

"Don't start with me, Harley." Nightwing snapped, getting out of the vehicle.

"What is your _problem_?!" Harley yelled as she got out of the passengers seat. "I know I'm not exactly your favorite person in the world-"

"You're right," Nightwing interrupted. "as a matter of fact, you're one of my _least_ favorite people in the world!"

"Oh, I am so _wounded_ by that fact," Harley snarled. "the great and powerful Nightwing hates me! I just do not know how I will survive!"

Nightwing whirled around and faced her.

"You could have _stopped _him." he hissed coldly.

"What are you talking about?" Harley asked.

Anger flared up in Nightwing's chest. "You could've _stopped_ the Joker two years ago, at the warehouse! You could've stopped him from killing Jason!"

"I had _nothing_ to do with Jason's death," Harley screamed, jabbing a finger at his chest. "don't _ever_ accuse me of that again!"

"YOU LIVED WITH THE JOKER!" Nightwing exploded. "How did you _not_ have anything to do with Jason's death?! You were _there_ when it happened!"

"Don't act like you know everything when _you_ weren't there," Harley shrieked. "you don't know _anything_ about what happened that night! You never gave me the chance to explain!"

"What can there be to explain when you find out your _girlfriend_ had something to do with the death of your _brother_?!" Nightwing yelled.

"THERE WAS SO MUCH TO EXPLAIN!" Harley screamed. "You were the one who jumped to conclusions and wouldn't _listen __to me_!"

"And you ran away like a coward!" Nightwing growled. "You up and left _three days_ after Jason died!"

"I don't need to deal with this!" Harley snapped, storming away.

"Fine! Run away again! It wouldn't be the first time you've done it!" Nightwing called.

"I'm not running away! You assholes need all the damn help you can get! I'm not going to _abandon_ you guys!" Harley yelled.

A thick silence passed between them. Harley shook her head and walked away.

"You know," she said. "You're _really_ starting to live up to your name, _Dick_."

As she stormed away, she furiously wiped the tears from her eyes. When she started to walk around one of the large metal containers, she saw a sight that made her blood run cold. Standing in front of her, eyes wide with shock, was Robin.

"How much did you hear?" she whispered.

"I heard everything." Robin answered.

Harley swore under her breath. She rubbed her face before looking at Robin.

"Do _not_ tell anyone what you heard about me and Nightwing. I don't care if you tell them I may've had something to do with Jason's death, but _do not_ tell them I was dating Nightwing." she said firmly.

"I wouldn't, but why would _you_ care if I did?" Robin asked.

Harley paused. "The last thing I need is the team turning on their leader. He's a good guy and I don't want to see him get hurt."

She walked down the stairs and unlocked the door to the base. She suddenly felt extremely tired. Harley walked to the couch where Wolf was sleeping and collapse on it, holding her face in her hands. Wolf lifted his head at the disturbance. Harley took a few shaky breathes in attempt to calm herself down. She jumped slightly when she felt Wolf nose his way under her arms and rest his head on her lap. Harley stroked his fur.

"I screwed up so much." she whispered. Wolf huffed and licked her hand comfortingly.

"Hey, you're back." Conner said, entering the room.

"You too," Harley sighed. "how'd checking the wreckage go?"

"Draining," Conner said. "we couldn't find anything salvageable."

"Sorry to hear that." Harley murmured.

Conner tilted his head slightly. "You alright?"

"I'll be okay," she answered. "I'm just tired."

"Okay..." Conner said, not fully believing her. "We're going to try to start training back up tomorrow. You should come."

Harley smiled slightly and closed her eyes. "Thanks, I'd like that."

Conner nodded silently. He heard Harley's breathing grow heavy as she drifted off. Wolf got off her lap and moved to the opposite end of the couch. As Conner started to leave the room, he heard the entry door open.

Nightwing stepped in and halted when he saw Harley on the couch. Conner could see the tension in his posture. As soon as Nightwing noticed Harley was sleeping, he sighed heavily. He quietly took the throw blanket off the chair near by and covered Harley. Conner was surprised to see Nightwing do something like that after he'd been so certain that he couldn't stand Harley.

What Conner also didn't expect to see was Nightwing gently brush a few stray hairs out of Harley's face before letting his hand linger. With a jolt, Conner recognized it as something he would've done if he'd found Megan sleeping on the couch. As he watched Nightwing head for the kitchen, Conner couldn't help but wonder what the _real_ story behind the two who claimed they were rivals.


	6. Exposed

Hey everyone! So sorry for not updating last week! I got caught up helping my friend pack and with school work. I'm going to eventually get my tumblr up and running so I can give you guys updates that way. That way I'll actually be able to tell you if the chapter's going to be delayed. So, hopefully that'll be up by next week. Again, so sorry for the delay.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. Or the Hunger Games. Or the characters mentioned. I own the mentioned OC that made a small cameo. Hope you guys have a Happy Thanksgiving!**

* * *

In the days that followed, Harper couldn't help but feel out of place. Sure, he was back in his own bedroom (Roy had insisted he take it while he, Jade, and Lian took one of the many guest rooms in the manor) but it just didn't feel right. He didn't recognize any of the shows on TV, had no clue who half the celebrities were, and didn't even want to _know_ where half his old friends were.

Harper sighed and leaned against his headboard. There was no way he was ever going to get used to this. How could anyone? If someone missed the last eight years, was it even possible to get caught up?

Harper stood and walked by a window. Oliver and Roy were outside teaching Mia how to shoot. She had stopped by his room earlier and asked if he wanted to join them but he'd declined. He stood watching them for a moment. As Mia shot another arrow at the target, barely missing the bulls-eye, Harper walked away. He noted that she was getting better but still had a lot of work to do.

He walked past the living room and heard Jade and Dinah talking. Harper poked his head in briefly and gave a small wave to Lian before heading to the kitchen. Grabbing an apple off the counter, he sat down at the bar and stared at the wall. It was odd, everything _looked_ the same but nothing _felt_ the same.

Harper finally came to the conclusion that it was because he didn't belong here. Not in the manor, not in this _time_. He needed to leave, go out on his own like he was doing before. He had Mia in a safe place now, there was no reason for him to stay.

The back door burst open as Mia stumbled in. She reached the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

"Ugh, my arms are _killing_ me! I don't know how Katniss did it!" she groaned.

"She was probably hyped up on adrenaline the whole time, what with being in a place where everyone and anyone could kill her." Harper commented.

Mia gave him a small smile before sitting beside him. "Glad you understood the reference."

"I read the first book a while back," Harper answered. "I was going to read the second one but I, uh..."

"Got turned into a Roy-cicle?" Mia quipped. She winced slightly and rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry, that was kinda harsh."

"It's fine. It's not a _total_ lie." Harper said. He looked away and stared at the wall again. When he felt a hand hesitantly touch his shoulder, he jumped. Mia drew her hand back.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "I mean, it can't be easy waking up without an arm of all things. I can't imagine how bad it was when you found out it's almost been a decade since the last time you woke up."

"It's..." Harper sighed. "it's just something I'm going to have to get used to."

Mia paused for a moment, trying to think of something to say.

"You know, it probably does suck right now. I'm not going to tell you it doesn't. But, look at it this way: at least you're on the same page as the rest of the world." she said.

"How do you figure that?" Harper asked.

"Well, nobody in the world knows what's going to happen tomorrow, next month, or even next year. So, whatever happens next will come as a surprise to everyone, not just you. I mean, sure it's going to take some time for you to fully understand what you've missed in the last eight years, but you have us to help you with that."

Harper nodded slightly and gave her a small smile. "Thanks. I don't _feel_ any better, but I think I will eventually."

Mia grinned and nudged him. "Hey, if you can snatch Roy's ID, you could go to a bar and legally drink. Then you couldn't be arrested because it wouldn't be a fake ID."

Harper let out a laugh. He couldn't lie, he _had _considered that before. He turned and looked at her.

"What about you? How're you holding up?" he asked.

Mia paused. "It's a little weird having to take so many pills daily. And I'm honestly not used to waking up in a nice house and without freaking out initially."

Harper nodded silently. "You think you're gonna try to go back to school eventually?"

"That'd be awesome, but I'm pretty sure I'm behind by a lot." Mia said.

"Well, you're not the only one with that problem." Harper chuckled.

Mia laughed and fiddled with her water bottle. "It'd be cool if I could do what you guys did."

"What do you mean?" Harper asked.

"You know, work as a sidekick. I know Ollie just lost a sidekick not to long ago, so I didn't want to bring it up. It just seems like it'd be a cool thing to do." Mia explained.

Harper hesitated for a moment. "From what I've heard, Artemis stopped being Ollie's sidekick a while back, but I know what you mean. But, the hero business isn't really all it's cracked up to be. It can be dangerous and can lead to some..._unwanted_ consequences."

Mia nodded and sighed. "Maybe not now. But, someday. I'm determined to be his sidekick eventually. Might as well make the most of my life sooner or later."

"You'll figure something out. You've got time." Harper said.

Mia smiled and stood up. "I've gotta get back outside. Oliver's gonna teach me how to use a longbow."

"Have fun with that."

"Thanks, but I may need new arms after this." Mia said.

"I've got one to spare." Harper smirked.

Mia laughed as she walked outside. She gave Harper a quick wave before closing the door. Harper watched her as she left and frowned. He couldn't leave, not in broad daylight at least. If he was going to leave, it would have to be at night, when Mia or anyone else was awake to see him go.

_~~~"A hero holds purposes appropriate to man and is, therefore, a thinker." -Andrew Bernstein~~~ _

Richie sat in the courtyard drawing in his notebook. It was the only thing that seemed to calm him at the moment. Letting his rapid fire thoughts out on a piece of paper was the only thing that kept him from worrying about Virgil. He pulled out his cell phone, frowning when he saw there were no new messages. Maybe the League decided they didn't want him to help out after all.

"Hey there, smart guy." a voice said.

Richie looked up and sighed "Hey Frieda."

Frieda took a seat next to him and peered over his shoulder.

"You trying to crack the code for time travel or something?" she joked.

Richie looked down at his notebook and groaned. "Yeah, I am."

"I was joking..." Frieda said slowly.

Richie sighed heavily and rubbed his head. Frieda sent him a sympathetic look.

"I miss Virgil too. But, I'm sure he's alright. They'll find him soon." she said.

"It's been almost two months, Frieda. The likely hood of finding him is dwindling each day." Richie sighed.

"You can't give up hope like that! Virgil _will_ come back, you know why?"

"Why?" Richie asked.

"Because you, Richie Foley, are going to find him. You haven't given up yet and I fully believe you won't until you find him." Frieda said.

Richie gave her a small smile before he found himself with his arms full of the girl. He hugged her back tightly and pulled back.

"I'm not giving up," he said firmly. "I'm just sick of hitting dead ends all the time."

"Who knows, maybe something new will come when you're not expecting it." Frieda smiled.

Richie jumped as his cellphone went off, signaling he'd received a text. He picked it up and was both relieved and shocked to see Miguel's name on it.

_"Hey Richie! Sorry we never got back to you. If you can, can you get to that gas station we met you at as soon as you can? No rush! Thanks!" _

Richie stood up quickly and started gathering his stuff, shoving it in his backpack.

"Whoa, where's the fire?" Frieda asked.

"Something new just came in! I gotta go!" Richie said, running toward the parking lot.

"What?! Richie, school isn't even over yet! We're barely through lunch!" Frieda called.

"Cover for me, please! Thanks!" Richie yelled back.

He unlocked his bike from the bike-rack and took off down the street. Richie wasn't sure how fast he'd gone, but when he was able to reach the gas station in just over ten minutes he was sure he probably broke a few traffic laws on the way.

He dropped his bike outside and sprinted into the building.

"Hey! I got here as fast as I could!" he said, bursting through the door.

Miguel nearly fell out of the chair he was spinning on as Hartley looked at the clock.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" he asked.

"This is more important." Richie panted.

"Dude, we said 'as soon as you can' not 'get your butt here now'! You should be in school!" Miguel cried.

"Yeahyeahyeah, I'm missing school, big whoop! Look, my best friend's been missing for almost two months, I find an opportunity to possibly _rescue_ him, and then I don't get contacted for the next few days! School is _not_ important to me at the moment." Richie ranted.

Miguel hesitated for a moment. He was tempted to tell Richie to turn around and go back to school but the look in his eyes made Miguel realize how serious he was. He sighed and rubbed his neck.

"Okay, it's not like we actually _know_ where you go to school anyway."

"Sorry we didn't contact you right away either," Hartley spoke up. "we got caught up in El Paso. Two families missing kids, not the best interrogations."

Richie nodded and sat down. "I guess I kinda over reacted."

"You miss your best friend, nobody can blame you for that." Miguel said softly.

"But, we come baring good news." Hartley smiled.

"What kind of good news?" Richie asked.

Miguel grinned. "We talked to the guy who runs our team. He's agreed to let you come over and possibly give you a place on the team."

Richie's head snapped up in shock. He sat there slack-jawed for a few moments.

"We can't guarantee that you'll be directly involved with rescuing Virgil," Hartley said. "But, we can train you in case you are."

"Y-You're serious?!" Richie asked, still in disbelief.

"We have no reason to lie to you." Miguel smiled. Before he could react, Richie was out of his chair and had his arms around Miguel. Miguel flailed slightly as the chair rocketed backward.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." Richie said.

Miguel patted his back. "Of course, Richie. Even if we weren't able to get you involved, we would've given you updates."

"So, can we go now?" Richie asked.

"To the base? Yeah, but will your parents question where you are if you don't come back until later?" Hartley asked.

Richie stood up and fidgeted. He pulled out his phone and walked to the other side of the room.

"Hold on a second." Richie said. He dialed the number and held the phone to his ear.

"Richie, where the heck did you go?!" Frieda exclaimed as soon as she answered.

"It's a long story, Frieda. I can't exactly give you the details, but I need to ask a favor." Richie said.

"What kind of favor?" Frieda asked slowly.

Richie took a deep breath. "I need you to cover for me. I'm going somewhere soon and I may not be back until later tonight. I'm gonna tell my mom I'm at your house studying or something. Can you _please_ cover for me?"

"Where are you going?! I'm not agreeing to anything unless you tell me what's going on." Frieda said firmly.

Richie bit the inside of his cheek. "I can't tell you exactly. Look, Frieda, something came up and I think...I think I can find Virgil. If I do, _when_ I do, I promise I'll explain everything. Just, please, I need you to do me this solid."

There was a long pause at the other end, the only sound that could be heard was the school bell in the background. Finally, Frieda gave a deep sigh.

"Okay, I'll cover for you. But you better keep that promise. And, Richie, _please_ don't get hurt."

"I'll try not to, Frieda. Thank you so much." Richie sighed.

Frieda gave a quick goodbye as Richie hung up. He turned back to Miguel and Hartley.

"So, when do we leave?"

_~~~"One's past is what one is. It is the only way by which people should be judged." -Oscar Wilde~~~_

Jaime woke with a start. The last few days had consisted of him having flashbacks to the night he first found the scarab. Skating across the Kord parking-lot, the explosion, picking up the scarab; everything was repeated so vividly.

Jaime looked around blearily and saw the Scientist standing in front of what he guessed was a computer. She appeared to be talking to a man covered in armor similar to the one the scarab gave Jaime when he was active. It seemed to be a much darker shade.

"What are they saying?" Jaime murmured.

_"Providing translation."_ the scarab said. Jaime winced at the loud buzzing in his ears. As it subsided, he was able to understand some of what they were saying.

"The scarab's memory files are corrupted," the scientist hissed. "the only recoverable data comes from the past eight months, when the scarab connected with its current host body."

"Then reboot it. Put it back on mode." the black beetle guy said.

"Yes, a reboot _may _be in order," the scientist turned to Jaime's pod and walked over to it. "However, I would like to attempt to recover more data."

"If the memory files are already corrupted, what is the point?" Black Beetle asked.

"That which is corrupted is not necessarily lost. Let us see how well this will work." the scientist pushed a few buttons on the screen in front of her.

Jaime heard a strange whirring noise and saw large mechanical extensions appear in front of his pod.

_"It would be wise to brace for pain."_ the scarab instructed.

"What?! What do you me-AUGH!" Jaime let out a scream as the extensions released sonic waves. His head pounded and his whole body shook in pain. The scarab began chirping and making screeching sounds in the back of Jaime's head. Jaime squeezed his eyes shut.

Images shot through his head, memories that were not his own. Many were blurry and nondescript, but Jaime was able to make out flashes. He could see pyramids and a tall man with dark skin allowing the scarab's armor to encase him. He saw darkness for a long moment before seeing another man allowing the same thing to happen to him, only in a much different setting.

As the images flashed through his head they began to become clearer. Jaime was able see Ted Kord picking something up vividly. It was then Jaime realized these must be the scarab's memories. He could see the scarab being placed in a glass container, images going faster as time passed. A young woman looked down at the scarab curiously, reaching down and touching it. The scarab had jumped to life, causing her to retract her hand and stumble back.

At some point Ted had picked up the scarab and handed it to the young woman, who Jaime guessed was in her early twenties. It was then Jaime started hearing parts of their conversation.

_"I won't live forever." _a man said. Jaime could only assume it was Ted.

_"I can't do it." _the woman replied.

The next image Jaime saw was the most vivid of them all, perhaps because it was the most recent. Jaime could hear sirens screeching as Ted grabbed the scarab. He saw Ted grab the woman by the arm as they ran out of the room. He heard the sound of gunfire and the woman scream in terror. Ted shoved the scarab into the woman's hands and grabbed her by the shoulders.

_"You need to go."_ Ted yelled over the noise.

_"Not without you!"_ the woman said.

More gunfire was heard as Ted pushed her away. _"Jekyll, go!"_

Jaime didn't see much of what happened next. He saw the woman, Jekyll (Jaime concluded that it had to be her last name), run onto the roof of the building. She peered down at the scarab desperately through her aviator goggles. An explosion went off behind her, causing her to fly forward and release the scarab. The next thing Jaime saw was the scarab landing on the ground as he himself picked it up.

The sonic waves ended, causing Jaime to feel weak. He could hear the scientist chirping angrily as she motioned to the computer. The world began to turn dark. As Jaime felt himself slip out of consciousness, there was only one thing he was able to make out. Something from the back of his mind. A name.

_Khaji Da._

_~~~"Without a family, man, alone in the world, trembles with the cold." -Andre Maurois~~~_

Harper had waited until everyone had gone to sleep to make his move. He'd packed earlier that day, hiding his bag under his bed when Mia had stopped by for a while. Pulling his hood over his head, Harper quietly walked out of his room. He drew his bag over his shoulder and paused as he passed Mia's door. He knew she deserved some kind of explanation for his sudden leaving, but he couldn't bring himself to knock on the door.

Harper continued on his way, being careful to miss the creeks in the floor. It wasn't the first time he had sneaked out of the manor before. He held his breath as he passed the living room, breathing a sigh of relief when he didn't seen anyone. He made his way to the front door and quietly opened it.

He slowly closed the door and turned to walk off the porch. As soon as his foot hit the last step, a dark figure dropped down in front of him, causing him to jump back.

"You would've had better luck going out your bedroom window." Jade said, crossing her arms.

"How'd you know I was taking off?" Harper grumbled.

"I did the same thing when I was your age," Jade shrugged. "Hated living at home, decided to pack up and leave in the dead of night so nobody would know I was gone until morning. The only reason my sister even found out was because we shared a room."

"So, what, are you going to tell me how it was the worst mistake of your life and that I should go back?" Harper sneered.

"Oh no, it was the best decision I'd ever made. Granted, I lived on the streets for a while before the League of Shadows took me in, but I was finally away from my dad." Jade laughed.

"Then why are you stopping me?" Harper growled. He stood up and began to stalk off.

"Because, unless you plan on allying yourself with the Junior Justice League or the enemy, you don't exactly have anywhere to go. You're screwed. Roy tried going solo a few years back and eventually went back to the League." Jade said.

"I am _not_-"

"You're not Roy? But, you _are_, Harper. You both have the same personality, the same stubborn attitude. If you get in trouble, you won't ask for help unless you're desperate. But, there is a _key_ difference between you and Roy." Jade narrowed her eyes.

"And what's that?" Harper growled.

"When Roy went on his own, he was technically eighteen _and_ had both arms. He had matured, not by a lot, but he could make rational decisions because he was an _adult_. You, on the other hand, are still stuck in the mindset of a sixteen year old kid." Jade explained.

Harper gritted his teeth and looked away. Jade shrugged and headed back to the house.

"Do what you want, Harper," she said. "But, you're not going to get far without your family. Unlike me, you actually _have_ people who will want to find you if you go."

"Who'd come after me?" Harper muttered.

"Maybe you should try looking up." Jade said.

Harper arched a brow. As he looked around, he felt his blood run cold. He could see Mia peering out the window on one of the upper floors. Behind her, Oliver stood there with a frown on his face. As soon as Harper made eye contact with them, Oliver put his hand on Mia's shoulder and turned her away.

"It's up to you, Harper." Jade said before walking into the house.

Harper snarled and began to walk away. A heavy feeling in his stomach made him slow down. He paused and looked back at the manor. He stared at the window Mia and Oliver had been for a long moment. Suddenly, he let out a frustrated growl and turned around. Jade saw him coming and opened the door. He walked up the stairs and glared at her.

"I'm not staying here forever. You're lucky I got caught."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, kid." Jade snickered.

Harper grumbled and stalked away. As he made his way up the stairs, he bumped into someone. He looked up and saw Mia standing in front of him with a dufflebag slung over her shoulder. She gave him a bright smile.

"So, where are we going?" she asked.

"'We'?"

"Yeah, I saw you head out so I figured we were going somewhere." Mia said.

"Well, _I _was going to leave. You were gonna stay here." Harper grumbled, walking up the stairs.

"I was, was I?" Mia smirked. "Nah, probably wouldn't have."

"What are you talking about?" Harper asked.

"Someone needs to watch your back," Mia said, leaning against her bedroom door. "I'm nominating myself to be that someone."

Harper stood and stared at her for a long moment. It was then he noticed that she was fully dressed and ready to leave. It was clear she actually _was_ intending to leave with him.

"Oh, hey, I almost forgot." Mia said, opening her door. She looked around for a moment before handing a book to Harper. Harper looked at the title.

"'Catching Fire'?"

"It's the second book in the Hunger Games," Mia explained, blushing slightly. "I, uh, picked the series up when Dinah took me shopping today. I figured since you didn't get to read the other books, and since you seemed interested in the first book, I just thought..."

"Thank you," Harper said, looking away. "I'll, uh, get started on it right away."

Mia gave him a small smile. "Let me know before you leave next time. I fully intend to follow you."

Harper sighed as she closed her door. He walked down the hall and saw Oliver standing outside of his bedroom. They paused and stared at each other for a moment. Harper broke eye contact and put his hand on the doorknob.

"I'm proud of you for staying." Oliver said quietly before walking away.

Harper grunted in response before closing the door behind him.

_~~~"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope." -Martin Luther King Jr.~~~ _

"Robin, you _have _to come check the new guy out." Cassie said, entering the training room.

Robin wiped the sweat from his brow and looked at her. "New guy?"

"Bunker and Pied Piper found him in Dakota a few days ago. Apparently he's got powers and they're gonna talk to Nightwing about him joining the team." Cassie explained, leading him out of the room.

"Do we know how old he is?" Robin asked.

"High school aged. Young, so probably a freshman, maybe a sophomore at most." Cassie answered.

"Then he won't be doing much. Nightwing seems to have put a block on missions for anyone under eighteen." Robin sighed. "Even _if_ they're only to go investigate the wreckage of Mount Justice."

"There's something about this kid," Cassie said. "I don't think he's going to be satisfied with just waiting around."

Robin raised a brow as they entered the common room. He looked over and saw a blond boy with an over-sized hoodie sitting on the couch. The boy looked up.

"You guys part of the team too?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm Robin," Robin said, he nodded to Cassie. "This is Wonder Girl."

"I-I'm Richie," the boy said in awe. "You're _the_ Robin? As in Batman and Robin?"

"Technically I'm the third to take up the Robin mantle, but yeah." Robin smiled.

"What did I get myself into?" Richie murmured. "I-It's nice to meet you both, though."

"Mr. Mysterious over here won't tell you his real name, but you can call me Cassie. It's nice to meet you, Richie." Cassie smiled. "You seem a little shocked."

"That may be the understatement of the year." Richie admitted.

"It takes a while to get used to." Robin said.

"So, how'd Bunker and Piper find you?" Cassie asked.

"Who?" Richie tilted his head in confusion.

"Miguel and Hartley." Robin explained.

"Oh! Um..." Richie hesitated. "They were investigating my friend's disappearance and kinda chased me down because I was acting weird. I was told I could possibly help with rescuing him so I took up the offer without hesitation."

"Do you have powers?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah, so does my friend Virgil. We're both Bang Babies." Richie sighed.

"Bang Babies?" Cassie raised a brow.

"That's right, you're from Dakota City," Robin turned to Cassie. "Giant explosion down there a couple months back. Chemicals got released, people in the area started developing powers."

"Yikes." Cassie winced. "So, what can you do?"

"I'm still getting used to my powers, but I'm a technopath," Richie smiled. "I can invent things."

"That's awesome!" Cassie said.

Robin looked over to where Nightwing was talking to Miguel and Hartley. He bit the inside of his cheek before making his mind up. He sat in front of Richie and lowered his voice.

"How much do you want to find your friend?" he asked.

"Desperately," Richie said. "he's my best friend. I'm sick of waiting around."

Robin gave Cassie a look. Cassie seemed to understand and sat beside Richie.

"I don't have any doubt Nightwing'll let you join the team," Robin started. "but we have sort of a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Richie asked slowly.

"We're locked in," Cassie whispered. "Nightwing's not letting anyone under eighteen, which happen to be Robin and I at the moment, take on any missions."

"He has good reason. He doesn't want us to get hurt or kidnapped like the others," Robin explained. "but that also means we won't be participating in the rescue of our friends."

At that news, Richie's face fell. He looked at the ground in pure disbelief. He thought he'd been so close to rescuing Virgil, when he couldn't be more far away. Cassie put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. Robin looked up to make sure Nightwing wasn't within earshot. He took a deep breath.

"So, when the time comes and the squads are deployed for the rescue mission, we're going to make our own." Robin said.

Cassie looked up in shock. "Wait, _seriously_?"

"We can't just wait around," Robin explained. "We all want to be involved of the rescue mission and we're all _going_ to be involved in it. Nightwing might not approve, and I'm hoping we might be able to get a few more people on board, but we _will_ be involved in the mission."

Cassie and Richie stared at him pure surprise. Robin held out his hand to Richie.

"You with us?"

Richie looked at Robin's hand before giving him a determined look. He shook his hand.

"I'm in."

"Hey, Richie! Come here for a sec!" Miguel called.

Richie stood up and nodded at them. "I won't say a word to anyone."

Robin nodded back and smiled. "Hope to see you at training sometime."

"Bye, Richie!" Cassie said as he walked away.

As he left, Cassie turned her attention to Robin. "You think this is going to work?"

"We have to try," he replied. "I do want more people on board but we may be able to work with only three people."

Cassie could barely contain her grin. "I can't believe we're doing this."

Robin gave her a small smile. He looked over at Nightwing.

_"Sorry, Dick," _he thought. _"I need to take charge of this one."_

_~~~"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently." -Henry Ford~~~_

The next morning was slightly brutal for Harper. He groaned as he rolled out of bed, setting his book on the nightstand. Harper made his way downstairs, ignoring Jade's smirk as he passed her in the hall.

As he entered the kitchen, he was surprised to see Mia already up. She waved awkwardly as she shoved a spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

"You're up early." he commented.

"Not really," she replied. "It's like eleven o'clock."

Harper looked at the clock and nodded. "Must've stayed up later than I thought."

"Well, it was almost midnight when you decided to sneak out." Mia teased.

"Yeah," Harper grunted. "I stayed up reading a while after that."

"Oh! What part did you get to?!" Mia asked enthusiastically.

Harper thought for a moment before letting out a frustrated sigh. "They announced the Quarter Quell tributes. I got irritated and gave up for the night."

"Oh God, _that_ part! I freaked when that happened!" Mia said.

"You think she'd only have to go through so much psychological trauma! But no, this happens! Ugh!" Harper ranted.

Mia nodded and continued to eat. After she was sure Harper had calmed down slightly, she cleared her throat.

"Ollie wants to talk to us about something after we finish eating." Mia said.

Harper groaned. "Probably gonna chew me out about trying to leave last night."

"Then I don't know why he'd wanna talk to me too," Mia said. "unless he figured out I was going to leave with you."

She stood up and put her bowl in the sink. Harper stared at her.

"You were being serious about that, weren't you?" he asked.

"Yep," Mia smiled, bracing her hands against the counter. "I wasn't gonna let you go out and get yourself killed. Or forced into a sex trade or something."

Harper nodded silently and stood up. As they walked outside, he looked at her. "You know I wouldn't have let you come with me, right?"

"That wouldn't have stopped me for long." Mia smirked. "Plus, you wouldn't get far if you kept having to backtrack to drag me back here."

Harper let out a snort. As they approached Oliver, they could see his arms crossed. He looked down at them and sighed.

"Okay, look, I realize both of you have bee restless since you got here. Harper, I know it's because you're used to going on patrols and the whole sidekick business. Mia..." Oliver trailed off, unsure of the reason Mia had.

Mia shrugged. "I don't usually stay overnight at one place for more than a night. I'm surprised I didn't try to climb out the window the first morning I woke up here."

"Have you had to do that before?" Harper asked.

"A couple of times, actually." Mia replied.

"My point is," Oliver interrupted. "I know you guys hate just waiting and hanging out here all day. So, Dinah and I had a conversation and came up with an idea."

"Oh God, this isn't a 'you two are going to school' speech, is it?" Mia asked.

"No, but you two should. Dinah and I are still working out the kinks of that matter." Oliver said.

"Than what idea _did_ you guys come up with?" Harper asked.

"Do you remember when I told you the sidekicks made their own team?" Oliver began. "It's still going on. The team lost a few members recently due to a kidnapping initiated by the Light, our enemy. Beside them, a whole group of other kids have been taken by the Light for unknown reasons. So, Dinah and I agreed that we should take both of you to meet and potentially join the team."

"I get to be a sidekick?!" Mia asked excitedly.

"You'll probably train with the team, but don't get your hopes up on being a sidekick," Oliver said. "I don't want you rushing off into missions while untrained and sick. Chance are, you'll help Mal with mission control."

"I'm never _not_ going to be sick." Mia mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"So, you want us to join the team so we'll stay out of trouble?" Harper asked.

"In a nutshell, yes. What do you guys think?" Oliver asked.

"Your junior Justice League sounds like a joke." Harper said.

"Does that mean you're in?" Oliver asked.

Mia and Harper shared a look. Mia shrugged.

"It might be cool to check it out." she said.

Harper sighed and rolled his eyes. "I am _not_ looking forward to seeing how the sidekicks have grown."

"Good," Oliver said. "We'll go in tomorrow. For now, just...don't run away."

As he walked off, Mia waved. "No promises, Ollie! But, we'll try our best."

Oliver let out a chuckle and walked into the manor. Mia looked at Harper.

"You really think he won't let me be a sidekick because I'm sick?" she asked.

"That and I think he doesn't want to put another kid in danger. He doesn't exactly have the best track record as far as sidekicks go." Harper answered.

Mia hummed and looked around. "What do you wanna do for the rest of the day?"

Harper looked around. He spotted a few targets nearby. He smirked and allowed the canon on his arm start charging.

"Target practice?"

Mia beamed and jogged away. "I'll go get a bow and some arrows!"

Harper turned and aimed at a target. He fired and watched as the blast missed the bulls-eye by a few inches. He smirked. Today should be interesting.


	7. Forged

Hey everyone! Hope you guys had a great Thanksgiving (or a great Thursday if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving). This chapter was posted slightly sooner than I expected mainly because I had about ten tons of homework and projects piled on me for this weekend. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any other comic book characters. I do, however, own Dwight, Becca, and the Temptress (yes, I do realize there is a bad guy named the Temptress in the DC universe, but I honestly didn't find that out until later).**

**Note: Just as a quick note, I actually got my tumblr up and running. There's a link in my profile, but if the link doesn't work, it's just cryptic-case at tumblr. Just thought I'd let you guys know!**

* * *

"So, this is the 'new' base?" Mia asked as Harley down the stairs.

"Yep." Harley replied.

"What happened to the 'old' base?" Harper asked.

"From what Nightwing's told me an angry fish-boy blew it up." Harley said. She pressed her hand onto the scanner by the door until it unlocked. She opened it and waved them in.

The two followed her inside. As Mia looked around, Harper turned at Harley unimpressed.

"Is that the only entrance to this place? Seems kinda like a fire hazard."

"Oh, no, there are other emergency exits scattered throughout the base," Harley explained. "The main one is in the training room. I think it's in the back of the utility closet."

"What's the reason for being underground?" Mia asked.

"It's harder to find us! Let's go see the other freshmen." Harley snapped, rubbing her temples.

Harper and Mia looked at each other with similar smirks before following her. After Oliver confessed that they probably wouldn't get to go on any missions any time soon, Mia and Harper had agreed to bug whoever they needed to in order to be included on a mission. Harley just happened to be their first unlucky target.

"You've probably heard a rumor going around that Nightwing's locked down all the freshmen until we can get the other kids rescued," Harley said suddenly. "That rumor is true. You may think it's unfair but he has good reason. Point is, he's not budging on this one."

"Uh huh," Mia said. "quick question."

"What?!" Harley groaned, eye twitching slightly.

"How many other freshmen are there exactly?"

"Five currently since Nightwing gave you guys the okay to join," Harley answered. "If we include the ones who were kidnapped, I think the total is around eight or nine."

"That many people got taken?!" Harper asked.

"Yeah. Which is why we're trying to get them back." Harley sighed.

They were almost at the entrance to the training room when screams were heard.

"LOOK OUT!"

"Holy-!" Harley gasped out as what appeared to be a rollerblade with jets shot out of the training room.

Harley slammed herself onto the wall as it flew by. Harper grabbed Mia and dropped to the ground before the rollerblade could hit them. It hit the wall and fell to the ground, sputtering and sending out small sparks.

"And I thought being raised by the Joker would drive me insane." Harley muttered.

"Sorry about that!" Richie called as he ran out, Cassie and Robin in tow.

"Good going, genius! Were you _trying_ to kill someone?!" Harper growled as Richie picked up the rollerblade. He stood and helped Mia up. She nudged him slightly.

"Be nice, they're in our position right now." she murmured. Harper huffed and rolled his eyes.

"It got away from me," Richie said sheepishly. "I was trying to finalize the design when they broke loose."

"Well, at least we know they work." Robin said.

"Oh good, the freshmen are here. My job's done. Go find Nightwing if you have any other questions. Bye!" Harley said quickly as she jogged away.

"What's with her?" Cassie asked.

"Who knows." Robin said before turning to Mia and Harper. "You guys must be the new recruits."

"Yep! I'm Mia and this is Harper. Green Arrow told us we should come here." Mia said cheerfully.

"Glad to meet you, I'm Robin." Robin nodded over his shoulder. "That's Cassie and Richie."

"Nice to meet you!" Cassie smiled.

"Introductions aside, this seems a bit more like a social club than a team." Harper said.

"You're not wrong," Robin sighed. "It's definitely starting to feel like that ever since we were put on lock down."

"I thought Nightwing had a 'good reason'." Mia said.

"He does, but that doesn't mean we're _happy_ about it." Cassie huffed.

"Especially when it's _our_ friends that are missing." Richie added.

"It sounds like none of us are really going to be getting any missions anything soon." Mia said.

Cassie and Robin exchanged a look. Cassie gave him a smirk.

"So," she started. "you guys want in on some action, huh?"

"Well, yeah!" Harper said. "If we're gonna be on a team, we might as well be doing something useful."

"Yeah, if we wanted to just sit around all day we could've done that at home." Mia added.

Robin glanced around before waving at them. "Follow us. We need to go somewhere more private."

Harper raised a brow but followed him anyway. Mia stuck close to him until they'd reached a bedroom. As they entered, Cassie leaned toward Robin.

"You said you wanted at least two more people."

"I'm kinda surprised we found them this fast." Robin admitted.

Cassie smiled and closed the door behind them. Mia and Harper took a seat on the bed.

"Okay, why do we suddenly need to be secretive?" Mia asked

"How much do you know about the lock down?" Cassie asked.

"Just that it was put in motion because some of you guys got kidnapped." Harper answered.

"It's not just members of the team," Robin said. "All around America, possibly in other countries too, kids have started to go missing."

"During a mission back in February I helped a squad rescue over a dozen kids from our enemies," Cassie explained. "all were reported as runaways but all of them told us they abducted before they could even make it out of town."

"Oh man." Mia breathed.

"Why are they being targeted?" Harper asked.

"We _think_ that the bad guys could be trying to get kids under their control to make a children's army or something but we don't know for sure." Robin said.

"Which is why we're on lock down. Nightwing doesn't want to risk us being taken too." Cassie said.

"Which sucks because we want to help our friends and we're not even allowed to go on that mission either!" Richie exclaimed.

"That being said, we have a proposition for you two." Robin said.

"What kind of proposition?" Mia asked.

"We're making our own squad," Robin explained. "the day that the others decide to rescue our friends, we're going to help. Nobody can know about it, though. If someone finds out, we'll be shut down. Fast."

"So, you want to defy your mentors, go on a potential suicide mission, and you're going to do it with or without us?" Harper questioned.

"That would be a good summary." Cassie smirked.

Harper stood and held out his hand. "Count me in."

Robin smiled and shook his hand before Mia spoke up.

"Me too! I want in on this."

Harper shot her a concerned look. He hesitated, trying to choose his words carefully. "It may not be a good idea."

"Why not?!" Mia exclaimed. "I can't stay behind and do mission control for you guys! Someone would find out if I did that."

"If you're worried that she's under trained, it's not a big deal. Nightwing hasn't set up a time to deploy the squads, let alone come up with a plan of action." Cassie said.

"Yeah, for all we know it could be another month before we rescue them." Robin added.

"That's not what I'm worried about." Harper grumbled.

"I'll be fine," Mia said firmly. "if I need to buckle down on training, I can. Nobody lives forever. Might as well help out while I still can! Besides, I'm dead serious about having your back."

Harper stared at her for a good few minutes. Finally, he sighed. It wasn't as if he could tell her _no_ like Oliver had. If he didn't let her come with them she'd find a way to sneak away with them.

"I guess we're both in." Harper said.

Richie beamed as Cassie let out a whoop of excitement. Robin grinned at them.

"Welcome to the squad." he said.

_~~~"There is a danger that we lose sight of what our friend is absolutely, while considering what she is to us alone." -Henry David Thoreau~~~_

Wally slouched in his seat in the Hall of Justice. Nightwing had called him over with some new information that needed to urgently discuss with him. So far, the former boy wonder had been a no show.

The doors slid open to reveal a troubled looking Nightwing. Wally rolled his eyes and sat up.

"So, what was so urgent that I needed to ditch class to hear about?" he asked.

"An unexpected factor came up that may put people in danger." Nightwing sighed.

Wally felt his blood run cold. "Please tell me Kaldur's not actually a triple agent."

"No! I checked the flash-drive, Kaldur stuck to his word. We have the location of where the hostages are being kept." Nightwing said firmly.

Wally visibly relaxed a bit. "So, what's this unexpected factor?"

Nightwing rubbed his temples and put the bag he'd been carrying onto the table.

"When I sent alpha squad to investigate the wreckage, they didn't find much. They were able to retrieve a handful of the old souvenirs like Artemis's arrow. But, Conner found something when he was looking around. He hid it until he got back so he wouldn't alarm anyone."

"What did he find?" Wally asked.

Nightwing opened the bag a handed Wally a jar. Wally took it without a word and stared at it blankly. It was a simple, albeit broken, jar that looked like it was used for storing food.

"Wow, a jar." Wally said sarcastically. "How absolutely terrifying."

"Wally, this is serious!" Nightwing snapped, slamming his hands on the table.

"Why, because we're suddenly missing pickles?" Wally snapped back.

"Look _closely_ at it!" Nightwing said.

Wally snorted and looked at it carefully. There was nothing out of the ordinary that he could find.

"It's a jar with thick glass and," Wally looked at the bottom carefully, crinkling his nose. "Ew, is that _hair_ at the bottom of it?"

"It was in the trophy room at one point, remember?" Nightwing pressed.

"No, dude, I honestly don't. We got so many souvenirs that I lost count of what we did and didn't have." Wally said tiredly.

Nightwing snatched the jar from Wally's grasp and chucked it against the wall.

"Dude, are you crazy?!" Wally cried.

"Look at it now!" Nightwing growled, retrieving the jar.

Wally raised a brow and examined it. The jar hadn't shattered in the least but appeared to have cracks everywhere.

"It's shatterproof glass, I still don't see what the big deal is." Wally sighed.

"Think back to five years ago, Wally." Nightwing said slowly. "Who did we meet? _What_ did we have to trap at one point?"

Wally stared at him in confusion. He grabbed the jar again and reluctantly picked up some of the hair. He brought it to his nose and winced.

"It smells like sulfur." As soon as Wally realized what he said, he went pale. He looked at Nightwing with wide eyes. "No. Oh God, no. Please don't tell me she escaped."

"The jar was shatterproof, not explosion proof." Nightwing said. "Not to mention it was _Klarion_ who sealed her away last time, not Doctor Fate. We don't know how protected it was beyond apparently keeping the Temptress trapped."

Wally covered his face with his hands and resisted the urge to pull his hair out. As a thought came to him, Wally's head shot up.

"Rebecca was her host. They were bound or whatever. Is she okay?"

"I don't know." Nightwing sighed. "She hasn't tried to find us so far so I'm going to assume the answer is yes. But, we need to get in contact with her and let her know if she isn't already aware."

"She knew when she got possessed the last time, I wouldn't be surprised if she knew now." Wally said.

"Regardless of whether she knows or not, we _need_ to get her to the base and let her know what's going on." Nightwing said. "But, this could be used to our advantage."

"_How_ could our friend possibly being repossessed to a psychotic succubus be to our advantage?!" Wally cried.

"I was reviewing the information Kaldur gave me and started to come up with a plan," Nightwing explained. "when we go in to rescue the kids, we could arrange for Kaldur and Artemis to be sent to pick up more kids in another location so they won't be blamed for not doing anything during the jail break."

"Okay, still not seeing how Becca fits into this in any way possible." Wally said, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm getting to that," Nightwing said. "when Kaldur and Artemis are sent to the other location, I'm going to send a squad there to intercept them and rescue the other kids. Decoys, if you will. I'm going to make you leader of the squad so you can make sure everything goes according to plan. Hartley will be with you as a decoy as well as Becca if we can convince her to come back."

"You're going to put more people in danger just so they can 'distract' Kaldur?!" Wally snapped.

"They won't _be_ in danger, Wally! Kaldur and Artemis will be faking it as much as you will!" Nightwing hissed.

"And they were supposed to be faking it weeks ago, but they blew up the cave!" Wally exclaimed. "_Why_ does Becca even need to be included? She could run mission control with Mal, why put her at risk?!"

"Because Kaldur's dealt with the Temptress before! If he thinks Becca could be repossessed, it would give the perfect distraction for you guys to break the kids out." Nightwing explained.

"You're not going to _tell_ Kaldur Becca's one of the decoys?! Dick, this is insane! You're putting the lives of our loved ones on the line!" Wally yelled. "You already have me worried sick over Artemis being undercover, Miguel's gonna be reluctant to let Hartley leave, and you don't think _Kaldur's_ gonna be pissed off when he finds out Becca was a part of this and he wasn't informed?! He already lost Tula a few years ago, don't scare him into thinking he'll lose someone else for the sake of a stupid mission!"

"I..." Nightwing groaned. "I have my reasons, Wally. I was going to send M'gann in Becca's place but thought against it."

"Why? M'gann would be a perfect decoy." Wally said.

"I know she would, but she also thinks Kaldur's the enemy," Nightwing replied. "From her point of view, Kaldur kidnapped her brother and boyfriend and killed her best friend. She put Psimon in a coma for nearly five years just because he threatened to reveal that she was a white martian to us. I didn't want her to _kill_ Kaldur and leave Artemis is danger."

Wally stared at him for a long moment before swearing under his breath. "Okay, that seems to be the only part of this stupid plan that makes sense. Everything else seems reckless."

"It's a necessary risk, no matter how much you disapprove." Nightwing bit out.

"Do you _hear_ yourself?!" Wally screamed. "I don't care that it's a 'necessary risk', Dick! You are putting our loved ones on a squad to be decoys with the hope that they won't end up being kidnapped like the kids were! And don't you dare say it's necessary again because I don't see _you_ sending Barbara to be on the squad either!"

"Everyone knows what they're signing up for when they join the team, Wally. You did too. This is the plan, this is what we're doing. I've considered many other options but this is the only sure way to make sure everyone makes it out alive." Nightwing said firmly.

Wally growled and looked away. Nightwing bit the inside of his cheek.

"Becca will come." he said.

"How can you be so sure?" Wally muttered.

"Because she doesn't know about Jaime yet. Once she finds out someone took up Ted's mantle, she'll want to meet him." Nightwing replied.

"That's a dirty way to go about it." Wally said.

Nightwing let out a deep sigh and turned. "I'm going to go and talk to her. We're meeting with Kaldur and Artemis later tonight to discuss the plan. You're leading beta squad during the mission, figure out how you want the other three members to go about it."

"Other three? I counted two other people beside myself earlier, who did you suddenly add?" Wally asked.

"I didn't 'suddenly' add anyone," Nightwing answered. "Beta squad has four members unless Becca refuses to join us."

"Assuming she does, who's the other member beside Hartley and myself?"

Nightwing stood silent for a long moment.

"Beta squad will be made up of yourself, Pied Piper, Becca," he took a deep breath. "and Harley."

Wally sat in pure silence as he stared at Nightwing. The tension between them was growing thicker by the moment.

"I'm leaving now. We're meeting at Blüdhaven like last time. Be there at midnight." Nightwing said before he zeta'd away.

As soon as he let, Wally turned to the wall and punched it as hard as he could in frustration.

_~~~"There is nothing so easy but that it becomes difficult when you do it with reluctance" -Jean Racine~~~_

The young woman groaned as she sat her textbook down. She'd been working at the problem for the last half hour without any progress.

"Break time." she said, standing up. She made her way into the kitchen, careful to avoid her roommate. Just as she was about to open the fridge, her roommate spoke up.

"You're never going to pass your math class if you don't do your homework, Becca." he said with a smile.

"It's not my fault that the professor gives ten tons of homework." she laughed.

"No, but it _is_ your fault for never paying attention in class." he teased.

Becca let out a snort. "Touché, Dwight."

Dwight laughed and looked up. "But seriously, you're going to have to retake the class if you don't keep working on it."

Becca rolled her eyes and winced. She rubbed her temple and took a seat on the couch. Dwight looked over at her with a concerned expression.

"Headache back?"

"They've been getting worse lately. Ibuprofen doesn't seem to be working anymore." Becca sighed.

"Maybe you should go to a doctor or something. It doesn't seem natural that you're getting them so often." Dwight said.

"I think I'm just stressed over school. They'll go away once the semester ends and I don't have to focus on math anymore." Becca replied.

There was a loud knock on the door. Dwight stood up and walked over.

"Whatever you say, Becca." he murmured before looking through the peep-hole. He pulled back with an odd look on his face.

"What's up?" Becca asked.

"There's some guy outside that I don't recognize." he said.

"Maybe it's a door-to-door salesman." Becca suggested.

"Unless jeans and a t-shirt are the new dress code for salesmen I doubt it." Dwight opened the door slowly. "Um, hello?"

"Sorry to disturb you, I have a friend who lives in this apartment building and was wondering if she lived here." the man said.

"What's your friend's name?" Dwight asked. Becca sat up slightly, trying to figure out where she'd heard the man's voice before.

"Her name's Rebecca. I think she still goes by Becca though." he said.

Dwight hesitated for a moment. "I'm Dwight. I have a roommate named Becca, but I don't know if it's the same one you're looking for."

At that point, Becca stood up and walked toward the door. She peered over Dwight's shoulder curiously and reeled back in shock. Nightwing was standing outside of their apartment in his civies.

"Um, Dwight, this is one of my friends from high school." she said slowly. "I-I wasn't expecting to see you."

"Sorry, my name's John Blake." Nightwing said, shaking Dwight's hand. "And sorry for dropping in unannounced. I couldn't find your number."

"Not that I'm unhappy to see you," Becca said, though it wasn't exactly the truth. "but, why are you here?"

"I needed to talk to you. I have some news concerning Ted." Nightwing said.

Becca stiffened. She cleared her throat and looked at Dwight. "Dwight, do you mind leaving us alone for a bit. This is kinda personal."

Dwight jumped and stumbled a bit. "Yeah, sure! As a matter of fact I, I, I need to...go walk to fish. I'll be back later!"

Dwight quickly grabbed his jacket and gave Nightwing a quick nod goodbye before jogging away. Nightwing raised a brow.

"He seems a little paranoid."

"He's a very nervous guy," Becca said. "Come on in."

Nightwing nodded and walked in as Becca closed the door behind them. She locked it and walked to the couch.

"What do you mean by news concerning Ted?" she asked slowly.

Nightwing sighed and rubbed his head. "It's a long story that can be told later. Right now I'm here about something else."

"Please don't tell me someone else got killed." Becca whispered.

"No, nothing like that." Nightwing said. "Did you hear about the explosion in Happy Harbor a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah, Wally told me it was the cave. Everyone's okay, right?" she asked.

"I'll go into more detail later about what happened," Nightwing said. "Conner found something when they were investigating the wreckage a few days later."

"What'd he find?"

Nightwing took a deep breath and pull out the jar from his bag. Becca took one look at it and shot off the couch, pressing herself onto the wall.

"No," she cried. "No no no no no, why is it broken?!"

"The explosion must've broken it. The Temptress escaped." Nightwing looked up. "The real question is have _you_ noticed anything odd?"

"In retrospect, we should've honestly seen this coming. Nothing is ever simple for us, especially not trapping demons in pickle jars." Becca sighed and thought for a moment. "I've been getting really bad headaches for a while now but I just associated that with stress."

"It's better safe than sorry. You need to come to the new base so we can keep an eye on you." Nightwing said.

"Nightwing, I was serious about quitting after Kaldur's betrayal," Becca sighed. "The only reason I put the old costume on again was because Ted needed me to help him out. If I start seeing signs of being repossessed, I'll contact you."

"I figured you'd say that," Nightwing said. "but there is another reason we need you back."

"What is it?" Becca asked.

Nightwing hold out his wrist and played around with the computer on his watch.

"The cave was raided by Kaldur before it exploded," Nightwing said, displaying the images of the boys. "he kidnapped three of our own. Among them was a new recruit named Jaime Reyes."

Becca looked at Jaime's image for a while. "Okay, who is this kid? You wouldn't be acting weird if he wasn't someone important."

"He's the new Blue Beetle. He said he found a piece of AI tech from Kord Industries and it gave him the armor." Nightwing explained, switching the image to Jaime in his Blue Beetle persona.

Becca lurched forward and stared at the image, hand covering her mouth. After a moment, she spoke up.

"I can't believe it." she murmured. "I-I didn't think someone would activate the scarab. I didn't even know what happened to it after the building blew up."

"He's one of the new kids on the team. At the moment, he, Beast Boy, and Impulse are missing." Nightwing said.

"How long has he been on the team?" Becca asked, not really listening to him.

"We recruited him in December." Nightwing winced when Becca's head snapped up. "We were going to tell you, but honestly Becca you broke off all communication after Ted got killed."

Becca sighed and sunk into her seat. "Why are you telling me this now, Nightwing? I understand the whole warning me about the Temptress thing."

"We need you to help with a rescue mission," Nightwing said. "you can say no if you really can't help us. But, Becca, we do need you."

Becca crossed her arms and stared at him. "This rescue mission is to get the boys back? The Blue Beetle kid too?"

Nightwing nodded silently. Becca sighed and stood up.

"I'll come to the mission briefing," she looked around for a moment before groaning. "But right now I have to go find Dwight."

"Why? Did he forget his keys?" Nightwing asked.

"Yep, and he apparently was serious about taking the fish for a walk." Becca unlocked and opened the door. She jumped and gripped the door.

"Uh...hi." Dwight said, holding the fish bowl in his hands. "Can I come in? I spilled half of Nemo's water out going down the stairs."

Nightwing stood and touched Becca's shoulder. "I was just leaving. I'll see you in a few days, Becca."

Becca gave him a nod goodbye as he left. Dwight set the fish bowl back on the counter.

"Weird friend you got there," he said. "so, you gonna meet for lunch or-"

_"What a strange boy."_ a voice whispered as Dwight continued to talk. Becca froze, her heart felt as if it had dropped into her stomach.

"God, please, no." she breathed. When she heard the familiar cackle in the back of her mind, she started shaking.

"Becks, you listening?" Dwight asked. He put a hand on her shoulder and felt her shaking. "Rebecca, what's wrong?"

Becca sniffled slightly and waved him off.

"Just my headache, it really hurts." she said, voice cracking.

She pushed passed him and hurried to her room.

"I need to finish homework."

She heard Dwight call her name as she slammed her door shut. Becca slowly slid to the floor and curled up, clutching her head.

"Please, don't let this be happening." she whispered. "Please don't be here."

_"But I am." _a voice hissed in the back of her mind.

Becca let out a choked sob as she shook in terror. She fumbled as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. Opening a new message, she started to type.

_**"She's here. Help**_ **_me."_**

Becca's thumb hovered over the 'send' button. Whether it was because she was stubborn or stupid, Becca pushed 'delete' and put her phone away. If the Temptress wasn't trying to take full control, Becca felt like she had a handle on things. The only question she had: _for how long_?

_~~~"Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness." -Euripides~~~_

Bart shuddered violently. The fact that they were actually getting _used_ to being captives was a terrifying thought. He sighed and leaned his head against his pod.

"You're oddly quiet today." Virgil noted, rubbing at his inhibitor collar again. Ever since he threatened Kaldur, he'd had to keep the collar in place.

"I didn't sleep well again." Bart lied. The truth was that he was slowly starting to lose his fight. That's what the Reach did, though. Break your spirits and make you think there's no way out. They'd kill everyone you love so you had no support system, squashed any hope you might have. Bart knew about that first hand.

"What's odd is how the kids can suddenly strike up a friendship in a time like this." Tye said, nodding to where Gar and Raven where talking.

Bart bit the inside of his cheek to keep from saying anything. It was kind of funny how Tye and Virgil automatically assumed that he was fifteen or sixteen when he actually wasn't even thirteen yet.

"Bad times can bring people closer together." Bart shrugged. Tye looked at him with a raised brow.

"You say that as if you know from experience."

Bart said nothing. Tye sighed and stared at the door.

"I still want to know where they took Jaime. And how do you guys know him?" Tye asked.

"You'll probably find out sooner or later," Bart sighed. "we're on a certain team together. A team for people who have powers. I won't go into any more details, Jaime'll probably wanna tell you himself."

"So, your best friend got taken here?" Virgil asked.

"Yes." Tye and Bart said in unison. They gave each other an awkward look.

"That really sucks," Virgil sighed. "Mine is probably freaking out right now. He was with me when I got taken, but actually got away."

"Harsh." Bart said.

"Yeah. I'm just hoping he isn't doing anything crazy if he's looking for me." Virgil sighed.

The doors slid open as McCoy and Doyle (Bart _knew_ captivity was looking bad when he'd began to remember the names of their guards) marched in. Bart sighed and stood up, figuring they were going to be put back into their pods. But, when Bart noticed McCoy look towards Gar and Raven, he knew something was up.

"Tye," he said in a low voice. "go stand by Raven, I'll get Gar."

Tye sensed the urgency in Bart's tone and moved over to Raven. Bart grabbed Gar by the shoulders and pulled him close to him.

"What's going on?" Gar asked.

"I don't know, Garfield." Bart muttered.

As McCoy and Doyle came closer to them, Tye pulled Raven behind him. The two guards stopped in front of him.

"Move. We need to take the girl to another room." Doyle said.

"No way." Tye growled, planting his feet firmly in the ground.

McCoy grabbed Tye and tried to drag him away, but Tye fought back. He punched and kicked without much success as Doyle grabbed Raven and began walking out. Gar ripped free of Bart's grasp and bolted toward him.

"Where are you taking her?!" he demanded

"An ally showed interest in her and will be coming for her soon." Doyle answered gruffly.

Virgil let out a yelp when McCoy grabbed him and shoved him into his pod. Tye had been trapped in his and was currently banging on the glass trying to break free.

Bart stood frozen in shock for a long moment. Flashes of his aunt being dragged away from him filled his mind and made Bart see red.

"You're not taking her!" he snarled.

Without a second though, Bart charged forward and tackled Doyle to the ground. At that moment, he didn't care that the guard was covered in armor. All the anger that he felt for anyone in this armor, whether it was present or future, all the anger he felt for his captors in general came out in that moment as Bart continued to punch Doyle in the head repeatedly.

Raven freed herself from Doyle's grasp and attempted to make a break for it, but McCoy was able to grab her before she could escape. Garfield sprinted forward in attempt to knock him down but was kicked away.

"Enough of this foolishness!" he snapped, pulling out a controller. He pushed the button causing all the inhibitor collars to spark. Raven fell unconscious as Garfield curled into a ball in pain. McCoy hoisted Garfield up and shoved him back into his pod

Bart let out a howl of pain but tried not to let up. His vision blurred as his hands began to shake. Doyle finally was able to shove him off and into a pod. Bart watched in horror as the guards took Raven from the room, pounding his bloody and probably broke fists against the front of the pod.

"No." he whispered as the doors slid shut. "RAVEN!"

_~~~"Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light." -Helen Keller~~~_

"Wally?" a voice called out.

Wally shoved himself off the crate and turned the corner. He saw Kaldur and Artemis walking towards him.

"Are we alone?" Kaldur asked.

"We're good." Nightwing answered.

As soon as the words left his friend's mouth, Wally sped over and hugged Artemis tightly. She hugged back.

"I've missed you." he sighed, giving her a kiss.

"Same here," Artemis frowned. "how's my mom?"

"Upset. And I honestly don't know if she'll ever forgive us." Wally said.

Kaldur turned away and looked at Nightwing. "I am assuming you have come up with a plan to get the kids back. What I do not know is why you wish to discuss it with us."

"You two are as much apart of this plan as the rest of the team is." Nightwing said. "I arranged it as a safety precaution for you two."

"What kind of safety precaution?" Artemis asked.

"I'm going to be splitting the team into two separate squads," Nightwing explained. "Alpha squad will be in charge of rescuing our boys and the other kids. Beta squad will be going to a different location entirely. That's where you two come in."

"What do you need us to do?" Kaldur asked.

"That's where the complicated part comes in." Nightwing sighed. "I need you and Artemis to go to beta's location and be ready to pick up a new shipment of abductees. That way, you'll be away from the main ship when alpha does the jailbreak and you won't be blamed for not doing anything."

"I could easily inform my father that the League is threatening to intercept the shipment and require that we oversee the mission." Kaldur said. "It does not seem as complicated as you think, my friend."

"There's more to it." Wally muttered. Artemis gave him a confused look but he said nothing more.

"Wally's right," Nightwing said. "in order for this to work, we need _another_ shipment to go to the main ship so Conner can sneak on disguised as a guard. It's a lot to ask and I really don't want to put more kids in danger."

"That could work." Artemis said, looking at Kaldur. "We have two pick-ups scheduled in the next two weeks. If we arranged for them to happen on the same day, you guys could strike then."

"Yes, and under the assumption that the League will interfere, my father would support moving the dates to throw them off guard." Kaldur agreed.

Nightwing let out a slight breath in relief. He held out his hand. "So it's settled? We strike in two weeks?"

"Yes, and we will find a way to let you know the exact date." Kaldur said, shaking his hand.

"That may not be as hard as you think," Nightwing smiled. "I still have the flash-drive. I'm sure I could find a way to hack into the system."

"It may not be as easy as hacking into the calendar." Artemis laughed.

Nightwing gave her a small smile before catching Wally's eye. Wally gave him a disapproving look before turning away. Nightwing looked to the ground as the guilt began to gnaw at him.

"Joking aside," he said. "there's something else I need to tell you about."

"What is it?" Artemis asked. Wally gave Nightwing a surprised look. He wasn't expecting him to say much else.

Nightwing rubbed the back of his neck before letting out a deep sigh. "Rebecca's coming back to the team. I talked to her earlier today and she agreed to help us with the rescue mission."

Kaldur stiffened and looked away. Artemis grabbed Wally's hand and led him away.

"I'm sorry, Kaldur. I wouldn't have dragged her back into this mess if there wasn't a reason." Nightwing said quietly. There was a long silence between them.

"How is she?" Kaldur asked hesitantly.

"She might be-" Nightwing stopped, not wanting to trouble Kaldur further. "she might be upset with me for not telling her about Jaime sooner. But, she's doing well."

Kaldur nodded solemnly. "Jaime is being held in a separate lab. As are Impulse and Beast Boy. It appears that they have split the abductees into two groups. Those with active metagenes and those who don't have active metagenes. I am unsure as to why Jaime is being held in a different lab."

"I'll keep that in mind when we send in alpha squad." Nightwing said. "Let's hope this goes according to plan."

_~~~"Together, on our own, we forged something powerful, important." -Kaldur'ahm~~~_

"Alpha will be going with me to get the boys," Nightwing explained to the group. "Wally will be leading beta to intercept and distract Kaldur. We're going to be leaving in about two weeks, give or take."

A loud burst of static caused Richie and Robin to jump and pull the headphones they had off.

"Sorry, something's messing with Back-Pack's feed. I don't think it's going to get any better." Richie sighed.

"I'm not surprised," Robin said. "Nightwing probably hacked the computer to interfere with any recording tech so we wouldn't hear the plan."

Richie looked down and pushed a button on his watch to call Back-Pack back to the training room. Robin put his hand on Richie's shoulder and smiled.

"You did good, Richie. We know the majority of the plan now."

Richie blushed a bit and stood up. Cassie watched curiously as Harper and Mia felt around in the utility closet.

"So, now what?" she asked.

"Now, we make a plan of our own." Robin said.

"I think the first thing we need to ask is how the heck are we getting out of here the day of the rescue?" Richie noted.

Mia poked her head out of the closet. "We're working on that. The one blonde chick told us there was an emergency exit in the back of this thing the other day."

"It's way back here!" Harper called. "It's buried behind a bunch of boxes."

"Don't touch anything," Robin said. "There could be motion sensors. Richie and I can hack them later."

"Okay, so we got a date and a general idea of Nightwing's plan." Cassie confirmed.

"We know there's going to be a shipment of abductees to the main ship where the others are being held captive and the location of the pick-up." Robin added. "Now, all we need to do is figure out how to get on board."

"What about having Harper and I go as decoys?" Mia suggested. "We could easily slip in with the other kids and get on board that way."

"It could work, but I'm worried about Harper's arm." Robin said.

"What's wrong with my arm?" Harper asked.

"It would probably be able to destroy the pod you were in," Cassie said. "but the guards might figure out it's a weapon and snatch it off of you. Plus there's the issue of getting a bow and arrows on board so Mia can fight."

Richie caught Back-Pack as it crawled out of the vent and searched through the pictures it had.

"I think I have an idea." Richie spoke up, carrying Back-Pack over. He pushed a button and displayed a hologram of the guard's uniform. "I think I could possibly make duplicate armor from stuff in the junk yard back in Dakota. If I could make their weapons too, I could make a false bottom to carry Mia's bow and Harper's arm."

"Two of us could sneak on board as guards, follow you two, and give you the weapons once we break everyone out." Robin said.

Harper looked unsure but sighed. "We may need Cassie to be a decoy too. I heard Nightwing say something about two separate holding areas before the audio cut out."

"You think they could be separating those with powers and those without?" Cassie asked.

"It's possible," Robin said. "if that's the case, we'll need you to act like you have no idea you have powers. That way you can break the boys out."

"That I can do." Cassie grinned.

"We might have to be careful, though." Richie said. "Things could go bad _really_ fast if Nightwing and alpha squad isn't there to get us out."

"That's why we should wait to leave until he's about to deploy the squads. Once we hear that Mal's ready with the computer, we move." Robin said.

"Sounds like we've got a pretty solid plan." Cassie said.

"We still may need transportation, the armor is _not_ going to be light." Richie noted. He jumped and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He frowned slightly when he saw Frieda's name flash on the screen before ignoring it.

"Girlfriend?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah, let's go with that." Richie muttered.

"Where did you say the main shipment was?" Harper questioned.

"California, outside of Star City." Robin answered.

"We'll get transportation." Harper said.

"I know how to hot-wire a car." Mia grinned. Robin and Richie gave her an odd look.

"Okay..." Robin said hesitantly. "I'm not going to ask. In the meantime, we'll work on getting ready for the mission."

"I'll help Harper train Mia while you work with Richie." Cassie suggested. "Plus, you and Richie can work on the armor thing."

"Works for me." Robin smiled.

"This is so exciting!" Mia said, practically bouncing. "we've got our own squad!"

"At this point it feels more like our own team. A team of teenage titans." Richie let out a slight laugh. "It's kinda got a nice ring to it. The 'Teen Titans'."

"Ugh, no," Cassie said, shuddering. "I've met the original Olympian Titans. I wouldn't name a team after them ever."

"Regardless of what we're called, we're a team now," Robin said. "and we're _getting_ our friends back."


	8. Deployed

Hey everyone! First and foremost: WHERE DID NOVEMBER GO?! WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN! I can't even believe it's already December. Oh well, sorry for the late update I have nobody to blame but myself. Really sorry about that. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters except for the one oc and blah blah blah you've probably heard this before. **

**Note: I just wanted to give you guys an early heads up that I'm going to see family for the winter holiday so after the 15th of December or so updates might be majorly delayed due to Christmas and visiting people. I will try my best to update while on vacation but I just wanted to let you guys know so you don't think I abandoned the fic. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Alright, listen up." Nightwing said, drawing the group's attention. "We're going to be heading out on the rescue mission in one week. The team is going to be split into two squads with Mal running mission control. Alpha squad will consist of myself, Batgirl, Superboy, Miss Martian, Bumblebee, and Bunker. We'll be infiltrating the ship to rescue the boys and the other abductees."

"Meanwhile, I'll be commanding beta squad to distract Aqualad from the main mission." Wally spoke up. "Beta's made up of Harley, Becca, Hartley, and me. Becca and Hartley will be 'taken' with the other kids while Harley and I wait to intercept."

Wally pretended not to notice the worried look on Miguel's face as he tightened his grip on Hartley's shoulder. Hartley gave him a reassuring smile and patted his hand.

"Conner will be disguised as a guard in order to sneak on board," Nightwing explained. "Karen, you'll have to shrink down and stay in Barbara's pocket while she goes with the abductees as a decoy. You two will then break out the kids once inside. Meanwhile, Miss Martian, myself, and Bunker will be aboard the bio-ship, following the enemy until we're in position to strike. Any questions?"

"Yeah, hi," Harley said, waving her hand. "is beta squad _not_ taking Wolf for any reason? Because, it'd be a lot of help if he could cause a distraction for us."

"Wolf's staying here," Mal answered. "since I'm gonna be running mission control and making sure everything goes alright I won't be able to watch the freshmen. So, he's gonna play guard while I'm busy."

Harley nodded and stroked Wolf's head. "Hope you're a good guard dog."

"Any _other_ questions?" Nightwing asked.

"Why am I not going as a decoy?" M'gann asked, looking up. "I could easily camouflage myself as a civilian."

"We need you to pilot the bio-ship underwater, possibly at extreme depth. When we get ready to strike, Barbara and Karen will break the abductees out while you get our boys," Nightwing gave her a sympathetic look. "Plus, I figured you'd want to be directly involved in the rescue of Gar and La'gaan."

M'gann looked down and nodded silently. Conner looked over at Nightwing.

"How are the kids taking the news that they're staying behind?"

"They aren't happy about it," Nightwing sighed. "But, they're dealing with it. Robin and Richie have struck up a friendship and hang out a lot outside of the cave- the_ base_. Cassie, refuses to talk to anyone and I honestly haven't seen Mia or Harper since they got here. So, while they probably aren't thrilled about staying behind, I'm confident they're going to stay put."

"But, just in case, Wolf will be watching them." Wally added.

"Any more questions?" Nightwing waited, but nobody spoke up. "We take off one week from today. I want everyone ready to go that night. We're going to get our boys back."

As everyone let out a slight breath in relief, nobody noticed Cassie sneak away from where she was hiding. Not stealther girl, huh? She smirked to herself and she rounded the corner and pressed the comm device in her earring.

"You guys get all of that?" she asked.

"Loud and clear!" Mia chirped.

"Good work, Cassie. This definitely helps a lot." Robin said. "We'll beat alpha squad to the pick-up area and try to make the mission as easy as possible for them."

"This is crazy enough to work." Harper laughed.

"Let's hope so." Richie added.

"Roger all of that," Cassie giggled. "Wonder Girl out."

_~~~"I learned that we can do anything, but we can't do everything... at least not at the same time. So think of your priorities not in terms of what activities you do, but when you do them. Timing is everything. -Dan Millman~~~_

The house was unusually quiet. Usually, there was some program on TV in Spanish indicating his boyfriend was awake and active. But, when Hartley woke up, he not only found the bed cold, but the house silent.

He sat up and snapped his fingers in front of both his ears a few times, slightly worried that his hearing might have gone out overnight. When he was able to hear the clicks, he swung his feet out of bed and walked out of the room.

As he entered the living room, he saw Miguel sitting silently on the couch looking out the window. It wasn't a good sign, any time Miguel was _quiet_ was never a good sign. Hartley slowly walked over.

"Hey," he called, causing Miguel to jump. "you alright? It's not like you to be quiet."

"I'm just worried." Miguel murmured. Hartley looked surprised and took a seat next to him.

"About what? The mission?"

"I just don't like that Nightwing's splitting us up." Miguel sighed. "And I _hate_ knowing I won't be able to help you if you get hurt."

"You act as if we were never on separate sides," Hartley chuckled. "when I was with the Rogues and you were just starting out on the team, we were never around each other. We've even _fought_ each other, for crying out loud."

"It was different back then!" Miguel snapped. Hartley stared at him for a long moment before Miguel looked away. Hartley sighed and grabbed his hand.

"Talk to me."

Miguel squeezed his hand. "That was five years ago. Before you switched sides, before we really knew each other, before..."

"Before we were seriously dating?" Hartley suggested.

"Exactly," Miguel said. "Back then, I would be worried about you but I knew there wasn't anything I could do about it. Now that we're on the same side, though...I just don't like knowing I that won't be able to protect you. I don't like feeling that I could lose you."

Hartley stayed quiet for a long moment. He took Miguel's face into his hands. "Miguel, look at me."

Miguel took a shaky breath and looked at him. Hartley smiled gently. "I don't need you to protect me, just like you don't need me to protect you. I know you're still going to want to, though. But, I'll be fine. We're going to go on the mission, we're going to get the boys back, and everything will be fine. You need to stop worrying about this."

"You really think you'll be okay?" Miguel asked.

"I survived working with the Rogues, didn't I?" Hartley grinned.

Miguel gave him a slight smile before wrapping his arms around his waist. Hartley held him close and kissed him on the head.

"Come back to bed," he murmured. "It's only four in the morning and we're going to need all the sleep we can get."

Miguel drew back and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "I'll be in in a minute."

Hartley nodded and stood up. As he entered the bedroom, his eyes fell on the nightstand. He cast a quick look over his shoulder and opened the drawer. He took a deep breath as he pulled out the small velvet box hidden beneath various books. He opened it and stared at the ring inside.

Hartley bit the inside of his cheek as he contemplated whether or not to pop the question then and there. He'd bought the ring a month ago, fully intending to wait until the time was right even if that wasn't for another few years. It had been a pain to hide it from Miguel and had to change the spot about five times already.

With a deep sigh, Hartley put the ring back. No, it wasn't the right time. The last thing he needed was to stress Miguel out even more than he already was. Plus, there was that lingering fear that he might not make it back after the mission. Though it was very unlikely, Hartley could never do that to Miguel.

He sat on the bed as Miguel entered the room. Miguel gave him a small smile before climbing into bed.

"What were you doing on the floor?" he asked.

"I stepped on the cat earlier and wanted to see if she was still under the bed." Hartley replied. Miguel let out a laugh as Hartley wrapped his arms around him. Miguel rested his head against Hartley's chest.

"Promise me you'll be safe. I don't want to lose you." Miguel said softly.

"I promise. You're not getting rid of me that easily, Barragan." Hartley said.

Miguel chuckled as they drifted back into sleep.

_~~~"There are no secrets that time does not reveal." -Jean Racine~~~_

"Have you come up with a code-name yet?" Robin asked, making sure the false bottom of the weapons were working.

"I've come up with a few, like Hardware, but they all seem to be taken already." Richie said.

"We could always call you tech support." Robin smirked.

Richie let out a laugh as he checked the boosters on his rollerblades. "Funny. But, I seriously need to find one. We only have a little while left. I need to come up with something that revolves around all this gear."

Robin set aside the weapons and looked at him. "What about that? Gear? It seems fitting."

Richie considered it for a moment before smiling. "Yeah. It does have a nice ring to it."

Richie jumped as his cell went off in front of him. He saw Freida's name on it and frowned. Reluctantly, he ignored the call. Robin leaned over to take a look.

"Frieda." he read. "Isn't that your girlfriend?"

Richie dropped the screwdriver and fumbled to catch it. "N-no. Frieda's not my girlfriend. She's just a really good friend of mine."

"But, you secretly like her, don't you?" Robin teased.

Richie turned bright red and shook his head. "Even if I _was_ interested in her, and I'm _not_, Virgil's got a huge crush on her. I wouldn't do that to him."

"So, why are you ignoring her?" Robin asked, shoving the decoy armor in the large case they'd made to store it.

"She doesn't know I'm a Bang Baby or that I joined the team. I promised I'd tell her everything after Virgil came back, but the closer we get to the date, the more I find myself not being able to tell her." Richie slouched in his chair. "I just don't want her dragged into all of this and put in danger."

Robin nodded silently as he packed the armor away. "Well, after next week, everything will start to go back to normal. You think you're still going to stay on the team after we get Virgil and the others back?"

"Uh, duh," Richie grinned. "despite the circumstances, the team is one of the best things I've ever done so far in my life."

The door to the gas station slammed open, causing Richie to fall out of his seat.

"Richie Osgood Foley, you better have a _good_ reason for ignoring me the last few weeks!" Frieda yelled as she stormed in.

"F-Frieda! What are you doing here?!" Richie stuttered as he crawled to his feet.

"Don't act stupid, Richie! I have been worried sick about you ever since you said you were getting Virgil back. You've disappeared after school, completely _ignored_ my calls to make sure you're alright, and using me as a scapegoat so you can vanish! What is going on?!" Frieda exclaimed.

"I promised you that I'd tell you everything when I got Virgil back safe. I'm still keeping that promise, Frieda. But, you _have_ to give me time." Richie sighed.

"Times up, Richie." Frieda snapped, turning away. "If you don't tell me what's going on, I'm going to the police and telling them about this place. I don't want you getting hurt."

As she ran out, Richie scrambled to put on his rollerblades.

"You go after her, I'll stay here." Robin said.

"On it." Richie said, securing his helmet. He rode out the door before kicking the boosters on. He let out a slight yelp when he was suddenly lifted into the air. He let out a laugh of disbelief. He was _flying_. He shot forward and saw Frieda a few yards away from him.

"Frieda!" he called. She was about to turn around when Richie picked her up bridal style and shot them into the air.

Frieda let out a shriek and gripped onto his neck. Richie grinned and flew back toward the gas station.

"Richie, we're flying!" Frieda screamed in terror.

"I know! It's awesome!" Richie let out a whoop as they landed.

He walked inside and placed Frieda on the chair. Robin gave her a small wave. Frieda looked up at Richie in pure shock.

"Richie...h-how did you do that?" she asked.

Richie took off his helmet and smiled. "I enhanced my old rollerblades."

"How?!" Frieda yelled.

"Oh, it's a little complicated to explain," Richie started. "I got the idea from watching a show on jet planes and then I remembered this one comic book from Japan about flying rollerblades that was kinda perverted but had a really good concept and-"

"Richie!" Frieda hissed, shutting him up. "I meant _how _were you able to make all this stuff! You're smart but this stuff would take a genius years to make."

"Thanks," Richie looked away and sighed. "Do you want the truth?"

"Of course I want the truth." Frieda said.

Richie rubbed his neck. "I'm a Bang Baby. And so is Virgil. That's why he was taken."

"Taken?!" Frieda gasped. "W-We were told he ran away, not _kidnapped_! And what do you mean you guys are Bang Babies?"

"It's a long, complicated story that I'll tell you when I get Virgil back." Richie said. "but, I can tell you this: I was asked to join a junior version of the Justice League. The team's been working on finding Virgil and a bunch of other kids."

"Is that where you've been going?" Frieda asked.

"Yes. And I've been disappearing more lately because we finally got a break through and we're going to rescue them next week." Richie explained.

Frieda sat in shock before looking at Robin. "And he is...?"

"Robin, boy wonder." Robin smiled. "Nice to finally meet you, Frieda."

Frieda gaped at him and turned back to Richie. Richie beamed. "I know, crazy, huh?!"

"You're actually getting Virgil back. You're actually doing it, Richie." Frieda said.

"I am. But, I'm gonna have help." Richie knelt down and looked at her. "I'm going to bring Virgil back safely, Frieda."

Frieda swallowed the lump in her throat and hugged him. Richie hugged her back tightly.

"What do you need me to do?" Frieda asked.

"Cover for me, please." Richie said. "I'm going to only be gone one night if everything goes right. I'll be back the next day."

"My parents are going to be gone next week," Frieda said. "If you're parents ask, tell them you're at my house working on a project. I'll cover for you."

"Thank you so much, Freida." Richie breathed.

"I need you to promise me two things, though."

"Anything."

"I want you to promise me you'll be careful."

"I promise. What's the other thing?" Richie murmured.

Frieda pulled back and looked him dead in the eye. "Bring Virgil back."

_~~~"A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same." -Elbert Hubbard~~~_

"How mad do you think Ollie's gonna be when he finds out we're doing this?" Mia asked, shoving more popcorn in her mouth.

"A lot madder than he will be when he finds out you're spending the night in my room." Harper answered from the bed.

Mia snorted. "Yes, because watching Brave at midnight is so scandalous!"

"Oliver just wants to be careful. He remembers being a playboy and just wants to make sure I'm not trying to take advantage of you." Harper smirked.

"You are probably the _last_ person who would try to do that." Mia laughed. "But, I do understand his concern."

Harper shook his head and looked back to the TV. They were at the part where the chick with crazy hair was trying to help her mother-bear out of the castle.

"Have you picked out a code-name yet?" Harper asked. "Because, I won't lie, I'm tempted to start calling you Merida or Katniss."

Mia laughed. "I am Mia! Only born child of the clan Dearden! And _I'll_ be deciding on my own name!"

Harper chuckled and reached for the popcorn. Mia's giggled subsided as she leaned against the bed.

"Actually, I've been thinking of taking up the Speedy mantel," she looked at Harper. "unless you're still Speedy. Because, I _have_ toyed around with using the name Arrowette."

"No, I took on the name Arsenal. Speedy's all yours." Harper looked down at her. "'Arrowette'? Really?"

"Shut up, it sounded better in my head." Mia retorted.

Harper chuckled and went back to watching the movie. "It's not like I can shoot a bow anymore or even have reason to when I have a cannon for an arm."

"Does it hurt to support it?" Mia asked curiously. "That thing looks like it weighs a ton."

"It took a while to get used to, but it's not that heavy." Harper replied. "I was right-handed anyway so my right...side is used to handling heavy things."

"You lost your writing hand? That sucks, dude." Mia said.

"I haven't had to write anything yet, so it's not a big deal." Harper said shortly.

"Do you wanna stop talking about the arm thing?"

"Please."

Mia nodded and didn't press anymore. After a while, Harper looked back at her.

"I know you don't have a great relationship with your dad," he began. "But...what about your mom?"

Mia shrugged. "Didn't know her. I don't know if she died or just left. My dad never talked about her, so I really don't know her name either."

"You and I both." Harper said. "Though, I'm pretty sure mine died when I was still a baby."

"Well, at least we have a new family now." Mia sighed. "And to be honest, it isn't half bad."

Harper sat silently for a moment before getting up and walking to his closet. Mia watched him curiously as he dug through his old clothes.

"It's probably too big for you, but you could adjust it." he said, pulling out his Speedy costume.

Harper walked back over and handed it to her. Mia took it and stared at it in shock.

"You're seriously giving this to me?"

Harper smiled. "Welcome to the family, Speedy."

Mia beamed at him. She sat the clothes down and jumped up, hugging him around the waist. "Thank you."

Harper stood stiffly, hands hovering over her back. Mia pulled away and let out an awkward cough.

"Sorry, I got a little excited."

"I-It's fine." Harper said, sitting back on the bed. They stayed silent for a long while.

"How many more days do we have?" Mia asked quietly.

"Until we're deployed?" Harper questioned, earning a nod from Mia. "Three days."

"Do you think I'm ready?"

Harper looked down at her. "Yes. I do."

_~~~"Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement." -Henry Ford~~~_

Nightwing looked up as the zeta tube activated and the computer began to speak.

**"Recognize: Jekyll, A04."**

He cracked a small smile as Becca stumbled out, giving him an irritated look.

"That joke died a long time ago." she huffed.

"But, it's your code-name." Nightwing teased.

"And none of you seemed to realize I was completely joking when I said that." Becca smiled, indicating she wasn't serious.

Nightwing nudged her and motioned for her to follow. "Any trouble on your end so far?"

"None what-so-ever." Becca insisted, doing her best to ignore the voice in her head that whispered _"Liar"_.

"Good. You're going to be on beta squad, like I told you before, so Wally will explain more about what he needs you to do." Nightwing said.

"How's everyone been?" she asked quietly.

"Shaken up, but they're excited about getting the boys back." Nightwing looked at her. "M'gann's a mess. She's been worried sick about her brother and La'gaan."

"And Wally? He called me when Artemis died but..." Becca trailed off.

"He's holding up. It took a lot of convincing to get him back on the team, but he's willing." Nightwing sighed.

He led her into the warehouse and down the stairs. Once they'd entered the common room, Becca looked around.

"It's not the cave, but it looks safe." she murmured. Mal turned in his seat and let out a laugh.

"Becca! Good to see you again!"

Becca smiled and walked over. "Hey, Mal! Long time no see. How goes the mission control job?"

"Got harder when we transferred here." Mal said, motioning to the computer. Becca let out a low whistle.

"That looks so different from the cave's," Becca clapped a hand on his shoulder. "I do not envy you right now."

Cassie wandered into the room and looked at Becca curiously. She turned to Nightwing.

"Who's she?"

"Oh, right! You've never met Becca before. I forgot you came after she quit." Nightwing waved Becca over. "Cassie, this is Jekyll."

"_Becca_," she corrected. "Becca Hyde. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Wonder Girl." Cassie said, shaking Becca's hand.

"Becca was our mission control person before Mal took over. She's gonna be helping out with the rescue." Nightwing explained.

"Oh, are you going to be running mission control with Mal?" Cassie asked.

"No, I'm going in as a decoy to distract Kaldur with beta squad." Becca answered.

Cassie crossed her arms and looked away. "Well, at least _someone_ gets to kick that monster's butt."

Cassie grumbled and walked off to the kitchen, leaving Becca confused.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"I grounded the freshmen from the mission, she's upset about it." Nightwing sighed.

Becca hesitated before looking back to Nightwing. "I've heard Kaldur called a _traitor_, but not a monster. Is there a reason behind that?"

Nightwing felt the blood drain from his face. He knew Wally had told Becca that Artemis had 'died', but it never occurred to him that nobody told her _how_. He was spared from giving her an explanation when M'gann and Wally walked in. M'gann let out a soft gasp and flew over.

"Rebecca!"

Becca turned and saw the Martian girl. She smiled softly and hugged her. "Hi, M'gann. How you holding up?"

"Terribly," M'gann admitted. "I'm a nervous wreck. But, I am happy to see you again."

"We're gonna get the boys back, Meg." Becca said. "And, I'm happy to see you too."

As the girls chatted, Wally nodded for Nightwing to follow him. As soon as they were out of earshot, Nightwing looked at Wally.

"I take it you never told Becca that Kaldur _'killed'_ Artemis?"

"I told her Artemis was killed on a mission. She can find out about Kaldur later." Wally said.

"Not the best idea," Nightwing grumbled. "if she _is_ possessed and finds out what Kaldur did, she could lose control."

"Maybe you should've thought about that before killing my girlfriend off." Wally snapped. "Or better yet, maybe you should've let Becca in on the situation like you should've done with _everyone_."

"It's not going undercover is everyone knows, Wally." Nightwing retorted. "And I _did_ talk to Kaldur about bringing Becca in on it. He said no."

"Dick, you made everyone here _hate_ him, myself included!" Wally snapped. "If you hadn't told me it was all a lie, I would've _killed_ him when Artemis went undercover!"

"Artemis wasn't going to go undercover unless you were told about it." Nightwing said. "We wouldn't put you through that!"

"And what happens when we have to bring them back?! You think they're going to accept everything if we tell them 'hey, Aqualad's on our side! And by the way, Artemis is alive and well!'?!"

"Which is why I didn't put M'gann on beta squad. She has a serious vendetta against Kaldur and would put everyone in danger if she were to hurt Kaldur." Nightwing hissed.

"_You're_ the one pulling the string, Dick, not M'gann! Don't blame her for the choices _you_ made!" Wally barked. "Nobody else is putting everyone in danger but _you_!"

"Everyone knows what they're signing up for when they join the team." Nightwing bit out.

"For once, stop thinking of them as the team!" Wally yelled. "They are people! They have _lives_, families who love them! You should've seen Paula's face when I told her that Artemis was dead. Not to mention Miguel looked like he was going to have a panic attack when he heard Hartley was going to be facing off with Kaldur."

Nightwing's fists tightened and shook as he looked away. Wally stared at him.

"And don't even _try_ to lie and tell me you're not worried for Harley. I don't care what excuse you give, you still actually care about her deep down." Wally said coldly.

"I'd be more worried about Barbara than Harley if their positions were swapped." Nightwing muttered.

"Why? Because you're going to have Barbara close to you during the mission so you're not worried about her? You can try to deny it all you want but you still _care_ about Harley."

Nightwing gritted his teeth and said nothing. Wally shook his head and walked away.

"You know, for someone who never wanted to be like Batman, you're doing a pretty good job following in his footsteps." Wally sighed.

As soon as Wally was gone, Nightwing turned and punched the wall next to him, causing a large dent. He slid to the floor with deep, shaky breaths.

It wasn't like he didn't care, like he didn't know what he was doing. He _hated_ doing this. Hated putting his friends in danger. It wasn't like there hadn't been times he'd shot up in the middle of the night freaked out by nightmares of everyone he loved dying. He worried constantly about whether this was the right choice or not. Whether it was going to be worth it in the end.

He heard a gasp and someone rushing towards him.

"Nightwing?!" Harley asked in panic, dropping next to him. "What happened?! Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Harley." Nightwing snapped, covering hand face with his hand.

Harley looked around before gently putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Dick, what's wrong? You sound upset."

"Just go, Harley. This doesn't concern you."

"Dick, you're on the floor looking like you're going to break at any second, of course I'm concerned." Harley whispered.

Nightwing reached up and grabbed her hand. He shook slightly as her squeezed it. With a deep breath, he pulled it off his shoulder.

"Let it be, Harley. Just leave me alone."

Harley drew her hand back and looked conflicted. With a sigh, she stood up and jogged to the training room. She looked around for a brief moment before walking over to the training dummy.

"Batgirl."

Barbara turned and gave a her a small glare. "What do you want, Harley?"

Harley hesitated before nodding behind her. "Something's up with leader boy. He's sitting in the middle of the hallway."

"Is he hurt?!" Barbara asked, rushing out.

"I don't think he is." Harley murmured.

She stayed back as she watched Barbara kneel next to Nightwing. After a few hushed whispers, Nightwing reached out and hugged Barbara around the waist. Harley turned away as the two embraced. She pushed thoughts that said _"that should be me"_ away and continued on autopilot as she passed them and exited the base all together.

_~~~"Love is blind; friendship closes its eyes." -Friedrich Nietzsche~~~_

"Mal said you ran out here," Conner said. "What's going on?"

Harley sat up and looked over at him. She was laying on the docks near the warehouse just thinking.

"Nothing, I'm just tired." she said.

Conner took a seat next to her. "You seem to be getting tired a lot lately. Is this about your dad again?"

"No, not this time." Harley sighed. "I'm just unsure about the mission tomorrow. I mean, the plan is great and seems like it'll work well, but..."

"But, you're afraid you'll run into some people you've worked with?" Conner offered.

"I can just see the looks on their faces," Harley laughed bitterly. "I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to make me switch sides."

"Would you?"

"No," Harley said, laying back down. "I promised myself I would leave that behind. There's no way I'll ever go to the Light again. Even _if_ I have people I care about on that side."

"That's good to hear," Conner said. "I mean, I think the team's starting to warm up to you a little. After tomorrow's mission, I wouldn't be surprised if they accepted you."

"The team will never _fully_ accept me because of my past," Harley looked at him. "And I _know_ Nightwing won't."

"What's your history with him? There seems to be a lot more going on between you two than you let on." Conner noted.

Harley hesitated for a moment. "I can't tell you our _full_ history, but there_ was_ a time when we might've been able to call each other friends."

"What changed that?" Conner pressed.

"How much do you know about the second Robin?" Harley asked.

"Jason? He was a good kid. Kinda impulsive and rash but a good kid. Nightwing was devastated when-" Conner looked up with a start. "when the Joker killed him..."

"Nightwing thinks I was involved with his death." Harley said.

"Were you?"

"Not exactly." Harley said. Conner stared at her for a long moment, obviously wanting an answer.

"To be honest, I didn't even know it had happened." Harley began slowly. "I mean, I was at home studying or watching a movie. I didn't even know about Jason's kidnapping until the Joker came back to our house covered in blood chanting 'clipped the birdies wings'."

"What did you do?" Conner asked softly.

Harley stared at the night sky. "I freaked out. The Joker had done some crazy things before but he _never_ killed a kid. When I first found out he might, I donned my Harley Quinn costume and started helping him so I could keep an eye on the civilians. You know, let him wreak havoc but get involved if it looked like he was going to kill anyone."

Conner looked at her in surprise. "So...you were never really a villain after all. You were just worried about your dad."

"When I found out what he did to Jason," Harley took a shaky breath. "I made sure he was sitting down, knocked him out with chloroform he kept in case of emergencies, and got to the place as fast as I could. It was too late, though. The first bomb had gone off. Other than that, I remember trying to pull him out of the fire but I knew I was too late."

"You tried to save him." Conner breathed.

Harley stayed silent for a moment before nodding.

"When I got back to the house, the Joker was freaking out because he was convinced I'd died. We got into a big fight that night which ended with him telling me I needed to get as far away from him as I could. To break off all contact with him." Harley let out a slight laugh and rubbed her eyes. "It's weird. I was raised by Gotham's resident psychopath but only I ever really saw what a good person he could be. He may be crazy but he's my _dad_. All he was trying to do by kicking me out was protect me from him."

"Where did you end up going?" Conner asked.

"Oregon. My friend, who ironically became my boyfriend later, took me in. I lived with him until recently when we broke it off."

"How is it ironic exactly?"

"Because our other friends always joked about how we'd end up together and we thought they were stupid." Harley explained, smiling. "Then again, when everyone was joking about that I was about fourteen while he was seventeen. We just figured the age difference was way off."

Conner smiled slightly. "Sounds like you two were close."

"We were." Harley looked at Conner and smiled. "You know, you're the only person who's really tried to get to know me. I appreciate it."

"It's no problem. I remember what it's like to feel alone and out of place." Conner looked down at her. "And, despite what everyone else thinks, I really _do_ believe you're a hero, Harley. Maybe not the 'traditional' hero, but in your own way you are."

Harley sat up and looked toward the ocean. "Thank you, Conner. That means a lot. It reminds me of something my boyfriend told me once. It was something like, all you really need is for one person to understand you. Someone who sees you for the psycho you are but likes you anyway."

Conner smiled but couldn't exactly put his finger on why that last sentence sounded familiar. He stood up and offered Harley a hand.

"You should probably get some rest. We're in for a big night tomorrow."

Harley accepted Conner's hand and smiled as she was pulled up. "We're gonna be fine. Nothing could possibly go wrong."

"Hopefully you didn't just jinx us." Conner laughed.

Harley snickered and nudged him. "Hey, you're single, right? I have a friend back in Oregon named Tana. At least, I _think_ she's still in Oregon. Anyway, if you want me to hook you guys up, just let me know."

"Uh, thanks, but I'm good right now." Conner said.

_~~~"You may feel powerless as a child, but the world will one day be yours. And you're responsible for it. So, seize the day and take charge of it." -Harvey Fierstein~~~_

Everyone stood in tense silence as they prepared for the mission. The last two weeks flew by fast and Nightwing was almost concerned that they weren't ready. But, he knew they wouldn't get another chance like this again for a while. They had to use the timing to their advantage.

"Alright, everyone's clear on what to do?" he asked. Everyone nodded in silence, looking determined and ready to go.

"Good. Let's go get our boys back."

Everyone let out a large cheer and said goodbye to their team mates as they split into two squads. Nightwing jumped when he felt a hand on his arm.

"Good luck, Nightwing." Harley said softly.

"You too," Nightwing hesitated. "Actually, Harley. Can you do me a favor?"

"What's up?"

"Keep an eye on Wally," he said, knowing his reasoning was a lie. "I don't know if he's going to try to get revenge on Kaldur for killing Artemis or what, but just in case."

"I'll watch him." Harley smiled.

She made her way over to beta squad and shot a quick glance over to Wally. Nightwing smiled.

"Good luck, beta squad. We'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Same to you, alpha. Bring our boys home safe." Wally said.

"Hold up a minute, guys," Mal said suddenly. "the computer's acting up."

Nightwing looked over in confusion. It had worked fine an hour ago. A low whimper was heard as Wolf staggered into the room.

"Wolf?!" Conner shouted in concern.

Wolf collapsed by the door. Becca rushed over and checked on him.

"He's breathing," she said. "but, someone must've drugged him. He's out cold."

"That doesn't make sense," Karen said. "he wasn't near anyone. The only thing Wolf was doing was watching the-oh no."

Everyone paled as another squad appeared on the screen. Wally shot quick look at Nightwing and saw a look of pure shock on his features. It was obvious Nightwing had no idea about this. The computer acted up again as Robin came onto the screen.

"By now, you've probably figured out we're gone," he said slowly. "I'm sorry, we couldn't be left behind. Not when _our friends_ were in danger. I've made up a squad consisting of myself, Wonder Girl, Arsenal, Speedy, and Gear. Once you guys have deployed, a message will go to Nightwing explaining our plan which is relying heavily on alpha squad's role. Oh, and don't worry about Wolf. He'll be fine. Delta squad, out."

Nobody spoke for a few moments, all in shock at what they'd just seen.

"What do we do now?" Harley asked.

Nightwing snapped out of his shock. "Their plan doesn't affect you, beta. Deploy now and we'll figure out this mess later."

Wally nodded as he motioned for the other three to move out. Mal made a note on the computer indicating that beta had deployed. A message appeared on Nightwing's wrist computer a few seconds later.

"What's the word, Nightwing?" Barbara asked. "Is the mission a no go?"

Nightwing read over the plan and shook his head. "The mission's still a go. We just need some revisions. Batgirl will be coming on the bio-ship with us while Bumblebee stows away with Superboy in disguise. But, we need to move _now_ if we don't want the kids to get hurt."

Alpha squad nodded and raced out to the bio-ship. Nightwing shook his head angrily.

"You're plan's crazy enough to work, Tim." he muttered. "But as soon as we get you guys back you are in _big_ trouble."

Nightwing boarded the bio-ship and did a head count. "Is everybody ready?"

"We're ready when you are, Nightwing." Miss Martian said.

Nightwing nodded. "Alpha squad, deploy."


	9. Before The Dawn

Hey everyone! Wow, sorry it's been so long. I went on vacation, got home, and started school again. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year and sorry this is two months overdue! I won't bore you with anything else, so enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the oc and the story. Everything else is owned by DC Comics and blah blah blah you get the drill.**

**Note: I'm putting a poll up on my profile page about whether or not I should post little previews on my tumblr before the chapter comes out. So, if you're interested, it'll be up after the chapter's posted.**

* * *

"We're here." Cassie said as she got out of the car. She jumped as Richie shot out of the back seat, collapsing on the ground.

"Land!" he cried. "Sweet, beautiful, non-moving _land_!"

Robin stumbled out of the front seat as Harper and Mia crawled out of the back. Mia was white as a ghost as she clutched Harper's arm.

"We almost hit three pedestrians and a wall." she murmured. "W-Why did we decide she was going to drive?"

"Oh, come on! It wasn't that bad!" Cassie huffed.

"Cassie, you're my friend and I care about you, but you're not allowed to drive until you get your licence." Robin said, bracing himself on the car.

Cassie huffed and crossed her arms. "Fine. By the way, where did we even _get_ this car?"

Mia and Harper gave each other a knowing look.

"We _may _have taken one of Ollie's cars." Harper answered.

"You stole the car?!" Robin exclaimed.

"Borrowed, Robin, borrowed." Mia said.

Robin let out a groan and rubbed his head. This was _not _how he pictured the mission to start. He sighed and helped Richie pull the equipment out of the back. Cassie looked around and spotted a large group of kids being shoved towards the docks. She turned and nodded to the others.

"The kids are here. We're just in time."

"Good," Robin said, pulling on the decoy armor. "get ready to go."

Mia and Harper began to pull their weapons out of the back and loaded them into the decoy guns. Robin looked up and frowned.

"Harper. Your arm."

Harper let out a sigh and began to take it off. "I was hoping you'd forget about it."

He handed it over and stared at his arm. Or, what was left of it. He was surprised when Mia grabbed it and held on tightly. She smiled at him.

"You can do this. It's only for a short time."

"Why not hold on to my other arm?" he asked.

"Because you might need it to punch someone." Mia said simply.

Harper stared at her for a moment before accepting it. Cassie joined them as Richie and Robin pulled on their helmets.

"Everyone ready?" Robin asked.

"We're good to go." Cassie said.

"Sweet!" Richie said, pointing the decoy gun at Mia and Harper's back. "Let's go."

Mia tightened her grip on Harper's arm slightly as they started walking. As they neared the group of kids, a large blond guy grinned and nudged the girl next to him.

"Well, would you look at that, sister Tuppence. We got us some escapees." he said.

"Sir, we caught these three before they could make it far. What do you wish for us to do?" Robin asked, voice disguised by the armor.

"Just go and put them with the others." Tuppence said, nodding to the holding area.

Robin and Richie nodded, shoving the others forward and into the compound. Mia glanced at Tommy Terror and shuddered. He gave her a large grin and leaned close to the fence.

"We sure did get some pretty ones this time around." he said.

Harper snarled and moved Mia behind him. Cassie sat on the other side of the compound watching silently.

"Stop messing with the kids, brother Tommy," Tuppence smirked. "The partner needs them."

As they walked away from the compound, Harper looked down at Mia.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine," she said. "I never did get used to guys looking at me like that, even when I was working."

Cassie watched Robin and Richie move to stand guard by the ship. She pushed the comm device on her earring when nobody was looking.

"Now what?" she asked.

"Now we wait. Stay strong, delta." Robin said.

Cassie watched Mia and Harper sigh as they sat down. This might be a long night.

_~~~"Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice." -Wayne Dyer~~~_

Kaldur stepped off the ship with Icicle Jr. and Artemis in tow. He'd made the decision to bring Jr. with them to cement their alibi when the team interrupted their pick-up. He'd told Nightwing not to let him know who the decoys were so that the illusion of surprise could be kept.

"Hey, beautiful, I never did catch your name." Jr. grinned, looking at Artemis.

"Tigress." she said shortly.

"Oh, come on! We've known each other for a while now, you can tell me your name." he gestured to himself. "I'll go first, I'm Cameron. And you are..."

Artemis sighed and rattled off the first name that came to her mind. "Linda. My name's Linda."

"I like that name. It's nice to meet you." Jr. smirked.

"Enough, you two." Kaldur snapped. "We must be vigilante. The League could be here."

"I doubt it." Jr. snorted. "It'd be pretty stupid for them to try."

"Better safe than sorry." Artemis muttered.

A few miles away, Harley was laying on her stomach, binoculars pushed against her eyes.

"Fish boy just got there with some ninja cat and-" she looked up suddenly.

"What? What's wrong?" Wally asked.

"Nothing," Harley said shortly. "I just couldn't tell who it was. I think it's Icicle Jr."

Hartley looked down at her with a raised brow. "You're kidding."

"Nope, that is definitely Cameron." she said.

"Wait, you guys _know_ him personally?" Becca asked.

"It's a long story." Harley said before watching them again.

"So, what's the plan?" Hartley asked.

Wally pulled on his goggles. "I'm gonna run you and Becca into the compound. When Kaldur starts loading the kids up we strike. Becca, I'm gonna need you to fool Kaldur into thinking you're possessed, can you do that?"

_"That doesn't need to be faked."_ the temptress giggled.

Becca smacked herself in the head and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, bug. And yeah, I can totally do that. I was able to sneak out black colored contacts from the drama department in my school."

Wally gave her a strange look before nodding. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Fine! Nothing's the matter." she chirped.

"They're not looking," Harley said suddenly. "Now's your chance."

Wally nodded and turned to Hartley before throwing him over his shoulder and speeding into the compound. He dropped Hartley quickly, glad that none of the kids noticed him before going back to get Becca. Once he'd dropped Becca inside, he ran back to Harley and dropped down.

"Anyone spot me?"

"No, you were too fast. I don't think the kids noticed either." Harley said.

"Good. Let Nightwing know we're ready to strike." Wally replied.

Harley nodded and handed him the binoculars. She opened the computer she'd brought with her and sent a quick message to Nightwing.

"We're good." she said.

"Alright, let's hope we don't have to wait long." Wally sighed.

He looked through the binoculars and watched Artemis for a while. He remembered that he had to play up her "death" and attack Kaldur at some point. It wasn't going to be easy but it was needed. He jumped when he noticed Harley looking at him.

"What's up?"

"Are you going to be okay? Because, the last thing we need is-" she started.

"I'm fine." Wally said firmly. "I won't mess up the mission."

Harley rolled her eyes and said nothing. It looked like she was going to have to keep a sharper eye on Wally than she originally thought.

_~~~"A real decision is measured by the fact that you've taken a new action. If there's no action, you haven't truly decided." -Tony Robbins~~~_

_"What's it looking like up there?"_ Nightwing asked.

Superboy looked around briefly. He spotted the compound and let out a snort.

_"Well, we found Wonder Girl, Harper, and Mia," _he said telepathically. _"No sign of Robin and Richie though."_

_"It's possible they're disguised as guards,"_ Nightwing thought._ "Just keep an eye out."_

Superboy nodded slightly as he walked to stand near the other guards. He tried not to move as he watched Bumblebee flutter near the ship's entrance.

_"We've got some activity over here."_ she said. _"Someone's being brought on board."_

_"Can you get a visual?"_ Nightwing asked.

Bumblebee flew silently to the entrance of the ship and waited. A young man holding a cat approached the guards nearby. Bumblebee reeled back in surprise.

_"Guys, Klarion's here."_ she said.

Superboy resisted the urge to turn around. _"Why's he here?"_

_"Don't know. He's going inside. Should I follow?"_ she asked.

_"Go ahead, Bee. Keep an eye on him and meet up with us later."_ Nightwing instructed.

Bumblebee nodded and zipped into the ship, being careful not to alert Teekl. Superboy watched her go until movement caught his eye. He saw the guards move inside the compound and begin to separate the kids. He watched as Mia was ripped away from Harper and shoved into a pod. Harper yelled in protest before being shoved into the pod next to her.

As Superboy began to move forward, he saw two guards grab the pods and wheel them away. He instantly noticed the tiny flaws in the armor and realized the two guards _must_ be Robin and Richie.

_"I got a visual on Robin and Richie. They're disguised as guards and went with Harper and Mia." _Superboy said.

_"What about Wonder Girl?"_ Nightwing asked.

Before Superboy could answer, he saw Cassie trying to tear herself away from a guard.

"Let me go!" she shrieked.

"She's got an active metagene," the guard said. "Doyle, McCoy, take her to the others."

"Not unless we have someone else. Last time we were in there, the speedster brat nearly broke Doyle's skull." McCoy grunted.

Superboy stepped forward. "I will go with them. Those kids can't be that bad."

Doyle snorted. "You'll have to learn eventually, rookie. Help us with this one."

Superboy nodded and grabbed Cassie. He could tell she was just struggling for show.

"Let me go! I don't know what you're talking about! I've never even heard of a metagene!" she yelled as she was placed in a pod.

Superboy began to walk to the ship and accessed the psychic link again. _"Nightwing, I've got Wonder Girl. We're going to a separate area for the kids with metagenes."_

_"Stay with her, Conner. I'll tell you when to strike. Nightwing, out."_ Nightwing let out a breath and sank down in his seat.

"Are you alright?" Batgirl asked.

"I'm just worried about Robin and the kids," Nightwing groaned and rubbed his head. "I can't believe they just up and left. They put themselves in danger and could have compromised the mission. I told them to stay put."

"They're not the first kids to do that, Nightwing." Miss Martian said with a small smile. "We used to do crazy stuff like that too."

Nightwing let out a sigh and read the report from Harley. "Well, at least beta squad's having an easy time so far."

"They're safe so far? Beta squad?" Bunker asked quietly.

Nightwing turned to him and nodded. "Hartley and Becca are waiting to strike in the compound. They're doing okay so far."

Bunker let out a slight breath of relief before looking straight ahead. Miss Martian looked back to Nightwing.

"Why do you think Klarion's on board?"

"I have no idea. But, if he's on board, it could mean trouble." Nightwing sighed. He watched as the ship went underwater, disappearing from sight. "Take us down, Miss M."

The bio-ship went into camouflage mode before sinking beneath the surface. Nightwing's heart started beating rapidly. This was it. They were going to save the kids. He pulled up his wrist computer and sent a message to Harley.

**"Alpha's in position. Strike when you're ready. Stay whelmed and be careful."**

_~~~"The essence of lying is in deception, not in words." -John Ruskin~~~_

"Master Klarion, the Reach welcomes you." the ambassador said.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Klarion scoffed. "I was told my possession is ready to be moved?"

"If by 'possession' you mean the girl, yes. She has been ready for quite some time now." the ambassador replied.

Klarion gave him a devious smirk. "Excellent. Take me to her."

The ambassador nodded and guided Klarion to a lab nearby. Bumblebee quietly zipped in and hid behind a pod. As she looked around the room, she jumped in shock. Jaime was being held in one of the pods nearby. She watched as Klarion and the ambassador stopped in the pod next to him that contained a young girl with short, dark hair. For a moment, Bumblebee thought she saw Klarion's eyes grow soft.

"It is a shame we were not able to study her more." the ambassador spoke.

"There isn't anything you _could_ study. Her powers don't come from this 'metagene' thing. Her powers come from somewhere else." Klarion snapped.

"Even so, she did get them genetically," the ambassador insisted. "From what we have observed, Raven is an _average _human so-"

"This girl belongs to the world of magic," Klarion cut him off. "leave your alien science babble for someone who _cares."_

The ambassador glared slightly before sighing. "I do suppose we have others to study. Would you like me to open the pod?"

Klarion waved him off. "That won't be necessary. I can do it myself. Leave us."

The ambassador narrowed his eyes before leaving the room. Bumblebee watched Klarion let out a slight sigh before placing his hand on the girl's pod. Teekl meowed loudly and looked up at him.

"I'm not going _soft_!" Klarion snapped. "I am _trying_ to prevent another inter dimensional war from breaking out."

Teekl meowed again as the pod opened. Klarion glared at him before catching the girl.

"Shut up, Teekl." Klarion lifted the girl into his arms and looked down as she stirred.

"W-Where am I?" she murmured.

"Og ot peels," Klarion muttered, causing her to fall unconscious. "No harm will befall you, Pride. Soon you will be somewhere safe. Somewhere your father won't even find you."

Bumblebee stayed hidden as she accessed the psychic link. _"Guys, I found Jaime in a separate lab. But, Klarion's here and he's taking a kid with him. Should I follow him or stay with Blue?"_

There was a long pause before Nightwing finally responded. _"Follow Klarion. We don't know if he'll try to take the kid off the ship or not. We'll get Blue later."_

Bumblebee sighed as she stood up. As she started to follow Klarion, she sent a guilty glance back at Jaime's pod.

"We'll be back for you, Blue." she said softly before flying out of the room.

_~~~"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." -Marcus Aurelius~~~_

"We've got some activity down there." Harley said. "It looks like they're getting ready to load the kids up."

Kid Flash nodded and took a deep breath. "Okay, when you see that Aqualad's discovered it's an ambush tell me. I'll get us both down there."

"Got it." Harley said pulling on the hood of her costume. It was a little odd to be back in her old outfit and fighting on the side of the good guys. She shook her head and continued to watch the scene unfold below her.

Kaldur watched as the guards loaded the kids into the pods, keeping an eye out for members of the team. He silently hoped this would all go well and according to plan.

"Sir, we have a non-responsive subject," a guard informed him. "she refuses to move."

"I will take a look at her." he said, making his way into the compound. As he stepped closer he saw a young woman kneeling on the ground with her hands on her hood covered head.

"You must come with us or we will use force." Kaldur informed her.

A soft giggle escaped her lips and she looked up. Kaldur felt his world come to a complete halt when he recognized her and saw her pitch black eyes.

"And why would I want to come with you?" Becca asked in a low voice.

Kaldur stood stunned for a moment before he heard a crash behind him. He spun around to see three guards being taken out by a blur of motion and caught sight of Pied Piper releasing the kids from the pods.

"It's an ambush!" Icicle Jr. yelled as he attempted to blast the blur.

Tigress lunged at Pied Piper only to be knocked away. Kid Flash appeared next to Pied Piper.

"Get the kids out of here, we'll take care of this!"

Pied Piper nodded. "Alright people, let's move it!"

He ran off with the group of kids as the guards began to close in on them. Pulling out his flute, he played a few notes before he and the kids suddenly disappeared. The guards looked baffled.

"Where did they-" one began to ask as a giant explosion went off behind them, throwing them onto the ground. Harley tossed the rocket launcher she had before flipping off the metal container and landing.

"It's an old Piper trick," she smirked. "he can make people disappear if he needs."

Kid Flash zoomed to her side. "Nice work."

"Thanks for _dropping_ me half way here, by the way!" Harley snapped, retrieving her mallet from behind the container. "Do you know how much it _hurts_ to suddenly be dropped at high speeds with a bag of weapons?! I'm lucky I didn't get injured. You're rash behavior is going to get us killed!"

"I have my reasons." Kid Flash said.

Before Harley could say anything else, Tigress pounced on Kid Flash and they tumbled away. Tigress pinned Kid Flash down and lowered her voice.

"You better have a plan to get out of here." she hissed.

"Trust me, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve." Kid Flash whispered. He shoved Tigress off him and stood up.

"Tigress, keep him steady!" Icicle Jr. yelled. Tigress pulled out her tranquilizer gun and started shooting at him, deliberately missing.

Icicle Jr. aimed his hand at Kid Flash as he dodged the tranquilizer darts and attempted to freeze him when various smoke bombs went off around him. He coughed and looked around in anger.

"Long time no see, Cameron." Harley called.

Jr. rubbed his eyes and glared before his expression melted into shock.

"Harley? You're fighting on the side of the angels now?" he questioned.

Harley smirked and picked up her mallet. "Just 'cause I'm with the angels doesn't mean I am one, puddin'."

Jr. grinned and aimed his hand at her. "Up for a little game of cat and mouse, babe?"

"Oh, _always_." Harley swung her mallet and began to chase after him.

As Kaldur watched the area erupt in chaos, Becca stood up and started to run past him. Kaldur noticed and quickly grabbed her.

"Let me go!" she demanded.

"Rebecca, you need to breathe," he said quietly, turning her toward him. "Do _not_ let the temptress take control. You're stronger than that."

Becca looked up at him in surprise. It was then he realized her eyes weren't dark anymore but their normal color. Kaldur looked down and saw the dark-colored contacts in her hands. Kaldur narrowed his eyes and hid his feeling of utter relief.

"It appears you have gotten better at deception over the years." he said coldly.

"If I have it's one of the few things that I've gotten better at." Becca replied as she pulled out her taser.

Before she could strike, Kid Flash zoomed over and tackled Kaldur to the ground. Becca jumped back in surprise.

"Murderer!" Kid Flash screamed. "I should kill you for what you've done!"

As he began to raise his fist to punch Kaldur, Harley rushed over and attempted in vain to pull him off. Tigress and Icicle Jr. followed and prepared to fight. Becca turned to face them and raised her taser.

"Back off." she snarled. Tigress looked at her in shock. Never did she think Nightwing would put Becca on a field mission as soon as she rejoined the team.

"Wally, stop it!" Harley hissed. "I know you're upset but you're going to endanger the mission!"

"No, he deserves this! He deserves to die for killing Artemis!" Kid Flash yelled. Harley gripped his torso tighter and tried to tug him back. Icicle Jr. tensed and looked at Kaldur in anger as Becca went rigid.

"It was necessary." Kaldur bit out. "She should not have tried to interfere."

"She was your friend once! She saved you numerous times and you _killed_ her!" Kid Flash roared.

The two glared at each other for a moment. They both knew it was an act but at the same time it all felt too real. Becca shook slightly as she looked back at them

"Y-You killed her?" she asked quietly. "You _killed_ Artemis?"

_"Give into the shock, Rebecca. Give into the numbness. You don't have to deal with this anymore. Let me have control." _the temptress cackled in Becca's head.

Becca felt her vision fading as her eyes grew dark. A loud whirl of noise broke through the darkness as she was knocked over by a large round object. Becca grunted in pain, drawing Kid Flash and Harley's attention to her. Kaldur took the opportunity to break free. Tigress made her way over and helped him steady himself.

"What is _that_?!" Harley asked.

"Her name's Sphere." Pied Piper called as he ran over with a grin on his face. "She came and plowed over some guards that were after us."

A guard stood up and lifted his gun. He aimed it at Kid Flash and pulled the trigger. Harley caught sight of the guard and shoved Kid Flash out of the way, screaming in pain as the blast hit her in the shoulder.

"Harley!" Pied Piper cried, catching the smaller girl as she collapsed. He ripped off part of his cape to apply pressure to Harley's shoulder.

Icicle Jr.'s eyes widened in shock before snarling at the guard. "Idiot! You hit the wrong person!"

Kaldur turned to Tigress. "The mission has failed. It is time to go."

Tigress nodded and pulled out a smoke bomb. Kaldur sent one last look at Becca before turning away. The smoke bomb hit the ground and exploded. Kid Flash coughed and growled in anger.

"He's getting away!"

"Wally, let him go! We gotta get Harley to safety!" Pied Piper snapped. Kid Flash turned and noticed the quickly forming spot of blood that seeped through the cape. He snapped out of his anger and ran over.

"Hartley, are the kids safe?" he asked.

"I got them far away and into the hands of the police." Hartley informed him.

"Good. Becca, activate Sphere. We'll fly Harley out of here." Kid Flash said, looking up at the girl who'd made her way over and knelt beside them.

Becca gave him a sadistic grin. Kid Flash froze when he saw her eyes growing dark. He reached out and shook her roughly.

"Rebecca! We need you to focus!" he snapped.

Becca jumped as her eyes returned to normal. "W-What?"

"Activate Sphere and contact Mal." Kid Flash said slowly.

"R-Right. I can do that." she stood up and made her way over to Sphere. Kid Flash helped Harley stand and slowly guided her to Sphere. Harley's eyes widened slightly when she saw Sphere shift.

"Well, there's something you don't see every day." she muttered. Kid Flash picked her up and climbed into one of the seats. Becca turned and looked at him.

"Mal knows we're coming. He'll have the infirmary prepped when we land."

"I'll go get the stuff we left behind and meet you back at the base." Hartley said.

Kid Flash nodded and checked to make sure Harley was still conscious. Though the bleeding had slowed she looked like she was about to pass out any minute. Kid Flash climbed to the front.

"Keep an eye on her, Becks. Make sure she doesn't start bleeding again."

Becca nodded and moved to the back where Harley was. As Sphere lifted into the air, Becca looked at Kid Flash.

"Kaldur killed Artemis?"

"Yeah. I should've told you sooner." Kid Flash looked over his shoulder at her. "Though from the looks of it, I'm not the only one hiding something. How long has she been in control?"

"She's not," Becca sighed. "The temptress is just a lingering...thing in my mind. She hasn't tried to take full control until today."

Kid Flash shook his head and looked away. "We'll have to be more careful. Let's just hope alpha squad's doing alright."

_~~~"Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you." -Thomas Jefferson~~~_

The guards finished rolling the pods into the lab and slowly began to leave. Robin and Gear waited silently to the side, hoping no one would notice the slight flaws in their armor. As the last guard began to close the door to the lab, Gear slowly made his way to Speedy's pod. Right as he was about to unlock it, the guard spoke up.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Robin acted quickly. He swung his weapon at the guard and knocked him to the ground. A few of the kids yelled in surprise from their pods as Gear struggled to open Speedy's pod.

"What's going on?!" she asked.

"It won't open!" he said desperately. Gear moved to Arsenal's pod and it came open with ease. Arsenal jumped out and started pressing the releases on the other pods. The other kids began spilling out of their pods and into the room as an alarm sounded. More guards started rushing in only to be blocked by Robin.

"Arsenal!" Robin called, kicking his weapon to him. Arsenal opened the false bottom and grabbed his arm out. He quickly ran to Speedy's pod.

"Go help Robin! I'll get her out!"

Gear nodded and dropped the weapon containing Speedy's bow and arrows before rushing to Robin's aid. Arsenal raised his arm and aimed the cannon at the pod.

"Mia, get back!"

Speedy pressed herself to the back of the pod and covered her head as Arsenal blasted the opening of the pod. Once he saw the pod had shattered, he grabbed Speedy's arms and pulled her out.

"Thanks!" she called and grabbed her bow from the false bottom of the gun. She strung the bow and fired several arrows at the guards.

"Listen up!" Gear shouted. "We're with the Justice League! We're here to get you out!"

He looked around quickly and felt his heart sink when he didn't see Virgil in the crowd. Robin, Arsenal, and Speedy finished off the last few guards and Gear turned back to the kids.

"Let's go people!"

Robin ran out first with Arsenal, Speedy, and a fish-like boy Gear hadn't seen before. He waited until everyone was out before reaching over his shoulder to activate Back-Pack.

"Back-Pack, record." he murmured.

As soon as he heard the distinct whirl of Back-Pack's camera he kick-starting the boosters on his rollerblades and took off after them. As they ran down the halls of the ship more guards tried to stop them. Speedy fired various arrows at them but failed to notice a guard aiming at her. Arsenal turned in time to see the guard pull the trigger.

"Speedy, look out!"

Speedy saw the shot fired and felt someone grab her. Next thing she knew she was standing next to Arsenal while a boy with a long yellow scarf held onto her arms. She looked up at him in surprise as she winced at the pain she felt.

"A few of us have powers," he explained quickly, wincing at his own pain. "it doesn't end well if we reveal that fact here."

Before Speedy could say anything a girl with short black hair clapped her hands together and sent herself crashing into a few other guards. The boy looked back at Speedy.

"Though we don't exactly know how to use them yet," he said. "I'm Eduardo, by the way."

Eduardo teleported himself to the girl's side and helped her up as Robin clicked on his comm device and motioned for them to start moving again. "Wonder Girl! We got our kids out, get yours out when you get the chance!"

On the other side of the ship, Wonder Girl heard the message. The three guards dragged her into the lab with the metakids, drawing their attention.

"Let me go! I told you I don't have powers!" she yelled, doing her best to ignore the look of shock from Impulse and Beast Boy.

Doyle snorted and closed the door behind him. "Sure you do. You just don't know about them yet."

As soon as the door closed, Wonder Girl sighed dramatically.

"Alright, you got me." she smirked and elbowed McCoy in the ribs.

As soon as Doyle saw what was going on, he rushed forward. The other guard grabbed him and slammed him into the wall while Wonder Girl ran over and opened Impulse's pod. As soon as he fell out, Wonder Girl reached up and broke the inhibitor collar around his neck. Impulse looked up at her gratefully before rushing off to let Tye and Virgil out.

Wonder Girl helped Beast Boy out of his pod and broke his inhibitor collar. He fell forward slightly as she put her hands out to steady him.

"Garfield?" she asked.

Beast boy groaned and looked up with a smile. "Knew you guys would come for us."

"Thanks for getting the collars off," Impulse called. "I'll find Blue!"

"Impulse, wait!" Wonder Girl yelled. Tye attempted to grab him but Impulse had already sped away and vibrated through the wall. Beast Boy grabbed Wonder Girl's arm.

"We gotta find Raven too! They took her away!" he insisted.

"We've got a more pressing issue at the moment, Gar." Virgil called. Wonder Girl looked up and saw one of the guards storming towards them. She stood up and took a battle stance.

"Everyone hold your ground!"

Beast Boy fell into a crouch while Virgil allowed electricity encase his fists. Tye backed up and raised his fists.

"Now would be an awesome time to show us what you got!" Virgil hissed at him.

"It would help if I _knew_ what I got!" Tye snapped.

Virgil gave him a look of disbelief as the guard pulled off his helmet.

"Superboy!" Beast Boy yelled in delight. Wonder Girl relaxed her stance and gave him a sheepish look as Superboy glared at her.

"You and delta squad are in _huge_ trouble." Superboy said. "Where are Robin and the others?"

"They just broke the other kids out." Wonder Girl informed.

"Tell them to head to the docking bay. I'll contact Nightwing." Superboy said as Wonder Girl activated her comm. _"Robin and the rest of delta broke out the abductees, Wonder Girl and I have the metakids. Impulse ran off to find Blue."_

_"Acknowledged. I'll send Miss M to meet you guys at the docking bay. Bring the kids to the docking bay."_

"Robin's heading over to the docking bay as we speak." Wonder Girl said.

"Good, let's go." Superboy said.

"We need to find Raven!" Beast Boy cried. "We can't leave her behind."

_"Nightwing, there's a girl named Raven that isn't with either group that we need to find first." _Superboy said as he accessed the psychic link.

_"Klarion's got_ _her." _Bumblebee answered._ "I'm following them now, I'll get her and bring her to the docking bay." _

"Bee's got her, Gar. She's safe." Superboy said.

Beast Boy looked unsure but nodded as the five of them rushed out of the room.

_~~~"Action is the real measure of intelligence." -Napoleon Hill~~~_

Impulse sped from room to room trying desperately to find Jaime. He knew time was running out but he refused to leave Jaime behind with the Reach. If he was going to save the planet, save those who hadn't been born yet that will die by the hand of Blue Beetle, he needed to get Jaime out of here. He could almost hear the disbelieving voice of the future Batman telling him it would've been easier to kill Jaime as soon as he'd gotten there, and there had been a time Impulse would've agreed with him.

_"No,"_ he thought firmly._ "I promised Green Lantern I wouldn't do that. I promised her I'd save Blue, not kill him."_

Impulse sped through three more rooms at rapid speed before finally entering a lab. In a pod near the back of the room was Jaime. From the look of it, the Reach scientist was running some type of experiment, no doubt to get the scarab back on mode. Impulse's eye narrowed in anger. No way was he going to let that happen.

As he bolted forward, his aunt's words came into his mind. _"The faster you go, the heavier you are."_

Impulse slammed into the scientist and sent her flying into the opposite wall. He rushed to Jaime's pod and tore the metal extensions in front of it down. The pod hissed open and Jaime fell forward with a grunt, giving Impulse barely enough time to catch him.

"Blue! Blue, wake up, amigo! We gotta go!" Impulse said, shaking Jaime in hopes it would wake him up. Jaime groaned and opened his eyes slightly.

"Bart?" he murmured.

Impulse let out a breath of relief and helped Jaime up. "We gotta get you out of here. I can't let them get the scarab on mode. I won't let you become the bad guy."

"W-What do you mean, _ese_? I'm not a bad guy." Jaime said blearily, trying his best to walk.

"You will be." Impulse said firmly, looking at Jaime. "Somehow, the Reach gets the scarab on mode. That's why I came back, well the _main_ reason I came back. In the future, Blue Beetle is the biggest baddest big bad in the world."

Jaime gave him a look of disbelief. The thought of becoming a bad guy, betraying all his friend, was too much to take in.

"I wouldn't," he stuttered weakly. "I-I'd never..."

"Except you do," Impulse said, kicking the door open. "Look, I can't go into a lot of detail here. But, I promise I'll explain once we're out of here."

Jaime nodded as they turned a corner and began to jog down the halls.

In a corridor not far from them Klarion walked silently with Raven in his arms. He had heard the high-pitched buzzing of the alarm long ago. He honestly hadn't cared that the ship was being attacked at the moment until Teekl hissed.

"What?" he asked in annoyance. He heard a buzzing noise before feeling a sharp sting to his back. He looked around and saw Bumblebee behind him. She grew to full size and glared at him. Klarion looked at her and smirked.

"Oh, goody. Just what I need, the baby Leaguers interrupting my fun."

"Hand the girl over, Klarion. You're not taking her off the ship." Bumblebee said.

Klarion studied her for a moment as Teekl hissed threateningly. He waved his hand at Teekl and moved forward. Bumblebee held her hands out in front of her, preparing to fire. Klarion shifted Raven in his arms and handed her to Bumblebee. She took Raven with a look of shock.

"What are you-" she started.

"You took her from me." Klarion said firmly, narrowing his eyes. He lifted his hand and caused several small blasts to damage the walls around them. "There was a fierce battle and you took her from me."

Bumblebee watched in shock as Klarion sat down and leaned himself against the wall. She looked down at the girl in her arms then back to him.

"Why?" she asked.

"The Light doesn't need to get their hands on her," Klarion replied. "neither do these space freaks. You humans won't understand why now, but she needs to be kept far away from those with evil intentions. Now go before I change my mind and take her back."

Bumblebee stared at him for a moment longer before turning away and running down the hall, being careful not to drop Raven. She rounded the corner and nearly collided with Jaime and Impulse. Impulse looked at her in surprise before noticing Raven.

"Oh, good! You got Raven!" he said.

"And I can see you got Jaime," Bee said before turning down the hall. "Now, come on! We need to get to the docking bay!"

"Right behind you." Impulse replied as the four of them jogged to the docking bay.

_~~~"Freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it." -Pericles~~~_

When Miss Martian got inside the docking bay, she quickly dispatched the few guards that were there. She was vaguely surprised that there weren't more, but considering the chaos Superboy and delta squad were probably causing it was possible the guards were needed else where. She levitated to the doors and opened them.

_"Docking bay is secured. Bring the bio-ship in." _she said.

Miss Martian watched as Nightwing piloted the bio-ship into one of the docks when a flood of kids started into the room, led by Gear and Speedy. Lagoon Boy brought up the rear and beamed when he saw her.

"M'gann!" he cried.

Miss Martian let out a choked cry and hugged him. "I'm so glad you're safe. Where are the others?"

"Arsenal and Robin are taking care of the guards. Superboy's coming with the other kids." Lagoon Boy explained.

"Hate to break up the reunion, but how do we get on board?!" Gear called.

Miss Martian turned to the bio-ship and commanded the door open. Bunker and Batgirl leaped out and stood to the side.

"Everyone on board. We're here to help!" Batgirl yelled.

The kids hurried on board as Superboy ran in with the others. It was then Miss Martian noticed Beast Boy wasn't with him.

"Where's Garfield?" she asked anxiously.

"He and Tye went to help Bumblebee and Impulse. They'll be here shortly." he said. Gear smiled at Cassie before catching sight of the boy next to her.

"Virgil!" he called, flying over to him and giving him a hug. Virgil stumbled in surprise before pulling back to look at him.

"Richie?! What are you...how did you-" he started.

"Long story, trust me." Gear chuckled. "You think I was gonna wait around while you were missing?"

Bunker gave the two a slight smile as Arsenal and Robin ran in. Just as he started to think they were going to have an easy time getting out, he felt a swift kick to the back of his neck that knocked him forward. Shimmer stood above him with a smirk on her face.

"What are you doing?!" Speedy yelled. "We're here to _help_ you, to get you out of here!"

"It would appear you are not the only ones who have decoys." a voice said. Black Beetle stepped into the docking bay with a smirk on his face. "Apologizes, mate. But no one goes anywhere."

He pressed his hand against the wall and sealed off the entrance to the bio-ship and the exit. Wonder Girl did a quick head count. She stepped forward and glared at him.

"Listen, uh, Black Beetle! You're out numbered ten to two! Back off now and we'll go easy on you!"

"You'll go _easy_ on me?" Black Beetle let out a deep laugh as he readied his weapons.

"That's never a good sign." Speedy whispered, pulling an arrow from her quiver. Arsenal nodded in agreement and stood close to her.

Superboy and Wonder Girl gave each other a look before nodding at each other. They both sprang into action and tackled Black Beetle in attempt to knock him off-balance. Shimmer started after them only to be intercepted by Batgirl and Robin. Gear watched the battle begin to unfold and looked to the door.

"Virgil, you still have your powers right?" he asked.

Virgil followed Gear's gaze before looking back at him. "What do you need me to do?"

Gear flew over to the door and pulled up his wrist compute. "I need you to help me get the doors open. Blast the door."

Virgil raised his hands and started blasting the door with electricity. Gear monitored the power of the blast and grinned.

"It's working! Keep at it Virgil, I'll cover you."

Black Beetle tossed Wonder Girl and Superboy off with ease and sent them spiraling into the wall. Bunker stood and formed a wall around him as Lagoon Boy puffed up and attacked Black Beetle from behind. Black Beetle chuckled and morphed his armor to latch onto Lagoon Boy's wrists. An electrical pulse rocketed through him and knocked him unconscious. Bunker watched in horror as Black Beetle lifted his arms and broke the wall binding him. He turned his attention to Batgirl and Robin before firing large, staple like binds at them. Batgirl dove out of the way as they pinned Robin to the wall.

"What do we do?!" Speedy asked, slightly panicked.

"We have to keep fighting." Arsenal snapped, blasting at Shimmer so Batgirl had a chance to get away.

"He just _stapled_ Robin to the wall, Superboy and Lagoon Boy are down, and I'm running low on arrows!" Speedy said.

Arsenal glared at her before noticing how terrified she looked. He couldn't really blame her, this_ was_ the first battle she'd ever been in. He looked at her arrows and got an idea.

"You have an exploding arrow, right?"

"Yeah, it's one of the trick ones."

Arsenal stood up and started charging the cannon on his arm. "When I say so, shoot at him with the exploding arrows. With my laser and your arrows, we might be able to do some damage."

Speedy nodded and took a deep breath. She shakily strung her bow and sent one last look to Arsenal.

"Now!" he yelled, firing his cannon. Speedy shot an arrow and watched as both attacks made impact. Black Beetle let out an irritated grunt and turned on them. He formed a sonic cannon and fired it at the two.

Arsenal acted quickly and shoved Speedy away as he flew back and hit the wall with a thud. Black Beetle stalked toward him. As he reached down to grab Arsenal by the throat an arrow hit his hand and exploded. He growled and turned to see Speedy shooting arrows at him. Black Beetle swatted the arrows away like they were nothing and stormed over to her. Eyes widening behind her mask, Speedy lifted her bow and swung it in attempt to fend Black Beetle off. Black Beetle grabbed her bow and lifted her off the ground with it.

"How cute," he sneered. "The meatbag is trying to protect her mate."

He threw Speedy at the wall and smirked when he heard her hit it with a bang. He let out a surprised cry as he was lifted into the air by Miss Martian. Superboy leaped forward and delivered a punch right in Black Beetle's face.

On the opposite side of the door, Bumblebee, Raven, and the boys arrived. They could hear the battle on the other side.

"It doesn't sound good in there." Tye said, helping Impulse keep Jaime upright.

_"What's going on in there?!"_ Bumblebee asked frantically through the psychic link.

_"No idea, we're trapped aboard the bio-ship!"_ Nightwing responded.

_"We're fighting Black Beetle and Shimmer." _Miss Martian answered._ "He has the doors sealed and we've already got people down-"_

They heard a cry from inside and the psychic-link went down. Bumblebee's eyes widened.

"M'gann's down!" she gasped. Beast Boy let out a scream of anger before transforming into an ape and began banging against the door. When he realized the attempt was in vain, he changed back.

"We've gotta get in there!" he cried.

"How?!" Tye asked.

Raven winced and levitated out of Bumblebee's arms. "I think I can get in. My powers are weak, but I might be able to get you guys through once I'm in."

She took a deep breath and concentrated on the door. Her eyes started to glow white as she raised her hand.

Back inside the docking bay, Virgil fell to the ground in pain. Gear knelt next to him in worry.

"I can't do it, Rich. The door's too strong." he panted. Gear's eyes widened in horror as Virgil passed out. He looked around and saw that only Batgirl, Wonder Girl, and he himself were the only ones still conscious. Everyone else was either out cold or unable to fight.

Black Beetle grabbed Wonder Girl and shoved her into the door. As he pulled back his arm to punch her, a swirl of dark energy appeared on the door. Black Beetle saw Raven begin to float through and slammed his hand on the door. Raven cried out in pain as the door suddenly closed around her and left her hanging.

"What did you do to her?!" Wonder Girl yelled.

"Shifted the density of the door. Didn't know she could density shift," Black Beetle looked at Wonder Girl with a sadistic smile. "But, if you're so jealous, I could put you half way through the door. Half way the hard way."

Pulling her back, Black Beetle proceeded to slam her repeatedly into the door. Gear watched in horror and was frozen in fear. When Black Beetle finally dropped her, Gear was sure Wonder Girl was dead. Batgirl flipped off the wall and delivered a roundhouse kick to Shimmer's head. Shimmer went down and slumped against the wall. Black Beetle looked at Batgirl with a grin. Gear jumped up and flew over to Batgirl for support.

"Looks like it's just us." Batgirl murmured.

"I've got your back." Gear said.

Tye, meanwhile, was trying in vain to pull Raven from the door as Bumblebee and Beast Boy tried to open the door. They'd all heard the repeated bang of someone hitting the door and silently hoped it hadn't been a person. Jaime leaned heavily against Impulse as he tried to figure out a way inside.

_"You have the ability to shift the density of the door," _the scarab informed him._ "you will be able to open it that way."_

"Why should I trust you?" Jaime hissed under his breath.

_"Do you wish for your companions to die, Jaime Reyes? It was my understanding that you care about the people inside the docking bay." _the scarab said.

Jaime stood silently for a moment before standing up straight. He stumbled to the door and placed his hand on it.

"You guys may want to back up." he said. He winced in pain as the armor covered his skin. Tye's eyes widened in shock. Once Jaime was fully covered, Tye spoke up.

"Jaime, we gotta talk about this later."

"I'll explain everything after we're safe, Tye. I promise." Blue Beetle replied.

He watched in relief as the door opened. Tye reacted quickly and caught Raven as she fell. The others entered and looked around in horror at the sight of their friends beaten up and unconscious. Impulse rushed to Wonder Girl when he noticed her by the door.

Blue Beetle quickly pressed his hand against the wall and opened the door to the bio-ship. He turned and looked at Tye.

"Get Raven on board, we'll wake up everyone else."

Tye nodded and ran quickly past the fight. Nightwing met him half way when he boarded the ship. Nightwing looked confused to see him run on board and saw Bumblebee dragging Lagoon Boy inside.

"Everyone's still fighting." Tye explained quickly. "A lot of them are hurt. I think Jaime's holding the bad guy off."

"We gotta make a fast get away." Bumblebee added. "There's no doubt that Black Beetle's gonna try to get us."

"Right, get everyone on board and we'll get out of here." Nightwing said, slightly dazed. He hadn't expected so many things to go wrong or for anyone to get seriously injured.

Blue Beetle steadied himself against the wall as Black Beetle advanced.

"I _will_ put you back on mode, little brother." he said. "You belong to the Reach. I will not allow you to betray us."

"I have to fight." Blue winced. "I can't let you win."

_"You are weak, Jaime Reyes. If you allow yourself to continued, you will be endangering the lives of your companions." _the scarab said_. "Grant me full control and I will take care of the Black Beetle."_

Blue looked around weakly and saw some of his friends struggling to stand and fight. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment.

"Do it." he said. He let out a cry as the scarab took control. It was an out of body experience as he felt himself rocketed forward and tackle Black Beetle. Weapons clashed and blows were exchanged but he could barely feel anything. As he faded out of consciousness, he could hear the scarab's broken thoughts. But, none were directed at him. The scarab just repeated the same thing over and over again but none of it made sense to Jaime.

_"Stay off mode. Remember...remember...remember your name. Stay off mode. Remember your name! WHAT IS YOUR NAME?!"_

Near the battle between the two Beetles, Shimmer braced her hand on the wall to steady herself as she stood. The metal began to boil and melt and caused her hand to sink in. She looked up in shock and backed away as a surge of water burst through. Bunker stood up quickly and rushed over. He formed a wall to block the water and grunted as the pressure forced him back but kept the wall up.

"Get the kids out of here, I'll cover you!" he shouted, making eye contact with Batgirl.

Batgirl hesitated but turned to the group. "Everyone retreat now! Go!"

She turned and rushed on board as Miss Martian levitated an unconscious Superboy into the bio-ship. Speedy continued to shoot arrows to hold Shimmer off before Arsenal grabbed her wrist and tugged her onboard. Beast Boy and Impulse helped Robin and Wonder Girl on as Virgil stood up and followed. Gear hesitated and looked back at Bunker struggling to hold the water back.

"Bunker, hurry!" he yelled.

"You guys go! I'll make sure the bio-ship doesn't flood!" Bunker groaned as more water escaped the blockade. He doubled his efforts the best he could and kept his feet planted.

"Richie, come on!" Virgil called. Gear looked at Bunker sadly before turning and rushing on.

Nightwing hurried to the back and attempted to do a headcount. Batgirl turned to him.

"Everyone's on board except for Blue and Bunker!" she said.

"I'm going back for them!" Impulse yelled. He sped to the door when a rush of water shot him back. Tye grabbed him and helped him up.

Nightwing got as close to the door as he could and yelled. "Bunker, Blue, let's go!"

Bunker gritted his teeth and hung his head in defeat. "Just go! I'll stay behind with Blue! Get everyone to safety!"

Nightwing's eyes widened in horror. He looked at the giant cracks appearing on the wall and turned away to nod at Batgirl. Batgirl closed her eyes for a moment before looking at Miss Martian. "Close the doors, we gotta go!"

"But, what about Blue and Bunker?!" Beast Boy asked.

"We can't help them if we drown!" Batgirl said firmly.

Reluctantly, Miss Martian sealed the doors and moved the bio-ship away from the docking bay.

"No!" Impulse screamed as Tye struggled to hold him back. "We have to go back! W-We can save them! We can save Jaime and Miguel!"

"We have no choice." Nightwing said sadly.

Impulse hung his head in defeat and sunk to the ground. Eduardo looked at Nightwing and stepped forward.

"I can teleport! I-I may not be the best with teleporting more than one person, but with the right motivation maybe I could go back and-"

"It's too risky. We can't..." Nightwing looked away. "We can't go back for them, no matter _how_ much we want to."

Eduardo's eyes widened as he looked at the ground. The girl he'd helped earlier put her hand on his shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze in comfort.

"I didn't do it," Impulse said quietly, drawing Tye's attention. "I couldn't save him."

Tye tightened his grip on Impulse when he saw tears in the younger boy's eyes and looked desperately to the doors, silently hoping that somehow Jaime and Bunker would appear.

Bunker watched the bio-ship leave as he struggled to keep the water from breaking through. He knew he wouldn't last much longer and seeing how the fight was going neither would Blue. He squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth.

_"Hola, God. It's me, Miguel," _he prayed to himself. _"Looks like I might be seeing you sooner than I thought. Just do me a favor and let Blue Beetle make it out alive. Oh, and if you could, please keep Hartley safe for me."_

Black Beetle shoved Blue Beetle back and formed a plasma cannon. Blue steadied himself and copied his motion. The cannons fired at each other and made a large explosion. As soon as he saw Blue heading towards him, Bunker released the wall of water and grabbed him as they were shot through the hole and into the ocean.

Bunker kept a firm grip on Blue and swam away as fast as he could. The Reach's ship began to shoot at them as Bunker struggled to throw up a blockade. His lungs burned for air and before he could help it, he attempted to inhale. Bunker panicked as he sucked in water and attempted to breath. He tried to keep a tight grip on Blue Beetle as he began to lose consciousness. By the time the bio-ship had circled back to them, Bunker was out.

Miss Martian and Lagoon Boy dropped out of the bio-ship and swam towards the two. Lagoon Boy grabbed Bunker as Miss Martian grabbed Blue Beetle and swam back to the ship. The bio-ship opened up and allowed the four in. As they collapsed on the floor of the ship, Miss Martian heard Blue let out a groan.

"Blue's alright! He's breathing." she announced. Miss Martian barely had time to move before Tye and Impulse rushed over to make sure she was telling the truth. Blue woke up slightly and looked blankly at Tye and Impulse. The armor retracted quickly as he sat up.

"It's me!" he cried. "It's me!"

"Of course it is." Impulse smiled in relief. Tye let out a slight laugh of disbelief and pulled Jaime into a hug.

"Nightwing, get over here! Bunker isn't breathing!" Lagoon Boy yelled, backing away.

Nightwing paled and rushed over. He knelt down and tilted his head forward. He could neither see nor hear Bunker breathing. He checked his pulse and felt a very faint thump. Nightwing immediately started giving him CPR. He didn't know how long he'd been at it when the dread crept up in him. No, they couldn't lose Bunker. He couldn't allow that to happen, Hartley had been counting on him to keep him safe.

Everyone on board stood in tense silence. Nobody even dared to move as hope seemed to ebb away. As the seconds ticked away into minutes, Gear bowed his head. Virgil saw his friend's distress and wrapped an arm around him for comfort.

"He's the closest thing to a mentor I had," he whispered to Virgil. "Bunker and his boyfriend, they promised to help me rescue you."

Virgil's eyes widened slightly at the news. He suddenly realized why Bunker was so important to Gear. He watched Batgirl walk forward and gently wrapped her arms around Nightwing's shoulders when he checked for a pulse again and hung his head. Virgil let go of his friend and slowly made his way forward, doing his best to drown out the sobs of sorrow at the fallen member. He took a deep breath and knelt next to Bunker.

_"Remember what mom taught you," _he thought as electricity sparked on his fingers. _"don't mess this up."_

He shakily put a hand on Bunker's chest and the other just below his heart. He focused his energy and sent out a strong shock through his body. Virgil checked for a pulse and jumped.

"He's got a pulse!" he called.

Nightwing looked up and quickly started CPR again. Bunker suddenly started coughing and Nightwing tilted him so he was on his side. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times.

"What'd I miss?" he asked with a slight smile. Everyone let out a cheer of relief and clapped Virgil on the shoulder. Nightwing looked at him with a look of utter gratitude.

"Thank you. You saved his life."

"It helps when your mom was a nurse." Virgil chuckled when Gear rushed over and hugged him tightly. "Besides, he's important to the team."

Nightwing stood up and made his way to the helm. He sat down heavily and brought up the computer.

"Alpha squad to base." he said. "Mission accomplished. Civilians and the boys have been rescued. Prepare the infirmary, we have some injuries on our end."

"Infirmary's already prepped," Mal answered. "Beta squad ran into some complications earlier. Good work, Nightwing."

Nightwing vaguely began to worry about what kind of complications beta had run into. Mal's voice disappeared and he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Batgirl standing next to him. Without another word, she leaned down and hugged him.

"He's okay, Dick." she whispered. "Miguel's gonna live. Stop beating yourself up."

Nightwing hugged her tightly. "Let's just...go home."

Batgirl nodded and wordlessly took the helm. Nightwing moved to another seat and sank down in it. There had been way too many complications on this mission. But, at least everyone was safe for now. Nightwing closed his eyes and forced himself to relax for the first time in almost a month.


	10. Things They Carried

This chapter took way to long to write/post. Way sorry about that everyone! Life just seemed to throw me for a loop and got chaotic. I will try my best to post more frequently! Anyway, here's the new chapter! Thanks for baring with me through the long update times.

**Disclaimer: Please see the first few chapters, I'm too lazy to put down all that I don't own at the moment.**

* * *

"_What_ were you guys thinking?!" Nightwing seethed. "Do you know how _wrong_ your plan would've gone had there been a malfunction in the system or if we'd been late getting to the ship?! What you guys did was incredibly stupid!"

None of the five teens spoke. They'd been preparing themselves since they came up with the plan for this moment.

"It all worked out in the end though, right?" Richie spoke up. "I mean, we rescued all the kids and got them to safety. Heck, Virgil's been talking about wanting to join the team as soon as he saw this place. He was gonna come here after talking to Black Canary to see if he could...talk...to...you..."

Nightwing gave Richie a dark glare that made him shut up immediately. Mia cleared her throat and raised her hand.

"If it helps any, we all kinda came up with the plan. There really isn't one person who has more blame than anyone else."

"That does _not_ help." Nightwing sighed. "And you and Richie shouldn't have even been _involved _in this. Richie's under-trained and Green Arrow told me about your situation."

"What situation?" Cassie whispered to Mia. Mia stood straighter and gave Nightwing a hard look.

"You're wrong," she said. "Richie was well prepared and was driven by the fact that his _best friend_ was gone! Heck, most of the team was! And, my _situation_ shouldn't matter."

"Green Arrow won't let you on the team, Mia. He doesn't want you risking your life." Nightwing replied.

"What life?! I'm living on borrowed time anyway, I'm not gonna waste it playing it safe and doing nothing." Mia snapped.

Cassie and Robin shared a confused look as Mia and Nightwing stood glaring at each other. Harper walked forward and put a hand on Mia's shoulder.

"She's got her heart set on this, Nightwing." he said. "Everyone knows what they're signing up for when they join the team, Mia's no exception."

Mia smiled slightly and looked at Harper. Nightwing looked between the two and shook his head.

"It's not my place to decide for Green Arrow. If you want to be on the team, you'll have to convince him." he glanced at the others. "And, despite the fact I think you guys were utterly stupid for doing this, I will admit I'm mildly impressed you managed to pull it off."

The teens shared a look of surprise and turned to Nightwing. Nightwing smirked slightly and crossed his arms.

"Just don't do it again. Or, at least _tell me_ first before you go barreling head first into danger."

"You're not mad at us?" Richie asked suspiciously.

"Not mad so much as irritated. When I _first_ found out I was furious. But, I can't exactly stay mad when I used to do the same thing with the team when it first started." Nightwing answered. "So, I'll let you guys off the hook this time. But, I am serious about talking to Green Arrow, Mia. I wouldn't mind having you on the team, but I'm not your mentor. You guys are free to go."

Cassie grinned and gave Mia a high-five as they walked out with Nightwing and Harper. As Richie began to leave, Robin grabbed him by the shoulder. Richie felt his heart thump rapidly and turned to his teammate.

"What's up?" he asked, doing his best not to stammer.

"You realize that you're gonna have to tell your parents about the team now, right?" Robin said. "Nightwing let you stay on the team without their knowledge because he didn't think we'd go off on our own."

Richie sighed and looked away. "I was afraid you'd say that."

"Richie, is there a reason that you don't want to tell them about the hero thing? If it's because they're worried about your safety-"

"They don't approve of a lot of things," Richie said quietly. "My mom might learn to accept it, but my dad..."

Robin waited silently. It was clear this was a touchy subject for Richie. Richie ran a hand through his hair and sat down.

"My dad doesn't like a lot of things, Bang Babies especially. He thinks they're all violent and just cause trouble. I mean, we're talking about the guy who was mad that my best friend is black and agrees with G. Gordan Godfrey about everything."

"I can see why you wouldn't want to tell him." Robin said.

"Plus, I feel like if I tell him I'm a Bang Baby..."

"You're afraid he'll kick you out?" Robin offered.

"That and more secrets I'm keeping will..." Richie hesitated. "_come out_. So, if he doesn't kick me out for the Bang Baby thing he'll kick me out for the other."

"Would you have somewhere to go if that happens?" Robin asked.

"Virgil's house, maybe." Richie said. "I've always been closer to his family than my own. But, even then my dad would always know where to find me. And I don't want to cause problems for Virgil's family."

Robin stayed silent, contemplating the situation. If Bruce were there Robin could explain the situation to him and see if they could set up a room for Richie in Wayne Manor. He could go to Dick and do the same thing, but what would happen when Bruce came back. He sighed and put his hand on Richie's shoulder.

"We'll figure something out."

Virgil walked in and looked at the two in confusion. "Richie, you ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'm ready." Richie looked at Robin with a sad smile. "Thanks for listening."

"Any time." Robin replied.

Virgil gave Richie a slight smirk and nudged him as they walked out. "What was that about?"

"Nothing, we were just talking about geek stuff." Richie laughed.

"Uh-huh. _Sure_ that's what you were talking about." Virgil snickered. "By the way, where'd Nightwing go? I wanted to talk to him!"

Richie just laughed and put his hand on Virgil's shoulder. "You're hopeless, Virg."

A s he watched them leave, Robin couldn't help but wonder if there was something he could do to help Richie. It was then Robin remembered what Richie had said. He looked around, stood and made his way to the computer.

"I'm already in trouble with Dick," he reasoned with himself. "And this is to help a friend."

Looking around one last time, Robin hacked into the League's database and brought up Richie's file.

_~~~"The flower that smells the sweetest is shy and lowly." -Willam_ Wordsworth~~~

"Ugh, stupid sling. Gets in the way of everything." Harley growled, struggling to get the door leading out of the base open. "And who's bright idea was it to not install automatic doors?!"

"I thought you were supposed to be resting in the infirmary." a voice called out.

Harley jumped and turned around, hissing in pain when the jolt jarred her shoulder. She let out a slight laugh.

"Nothing gets past you, does it?" Harley struggled to reposition her arm in the sling. "Guess that's the perk of having super hearing though."

Conner shook his head and walked toward her. Harley took a step back when Conner gently grabbed her elbow. She winced slightly as he adjusted her arm in the sling. Harley let out a breath of relief when she felt the throbbing pain in her shoulder dull.

"Thanks. That actually feels a lot better." she said.

"Which brings me back to my earlier statement," Conner replied. "I thought you were supposed to be in the infirmary resting."

"I was!" Harley protested. "But, I've been cooped up in there for, like, three days with barely any contact from anyone beside Karen and occasionally Mal. I talked to the Jaime kid a few times but he seemed to converse more with himself than anyone."

"Yeah, Blue's...weird like that." Conner chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I just needed to get out of there for a while." Harley giggled and patted Conner on the shoulder. "Don't worry, it's not like you thought I was gonna _leave forever_ or anything, right?"

Conner looked at her silently. Harley's smile fell and she rubbed the back of her neck in guilt. Conner turned and walked to the kitchen.

"Um..." he started. "I, uh, was gonna come visit you but got caught up with homework and school. I figured I'd bring these over for you."

Harley peered over Conner's shoulder curiously. Conner turned around held out a small bunch of hydrangeas to her. She took them with a look of surprise.

"They're beautiful. Thank you. But, why did you-"

"Because you're my friend." Conner said firmly. "I was worried about you when I heard you got hurt so I wanted to check on you as soon as I got a chance."

Harley gave him a small smile and sat the flowers on the counter. She took a step forward and gave him an awkward one-armed hug. Conner let out a chuckle and hugged her back, being mindful not to bump her arm.

"Thank you for trusting me." Harley murmured. Conner pulled back and gave her a sympathetic smile.

"As far as I'm concerned, you've earned it."

Harley shifted her gaze downward and turned her head away, as if not totally believing him. Conner noticed this and placed a hand on her good shoulder.

"Hey," he said softly, tilting her chin up to meet her gaze. "no matter _what_ anyone's told you in the past, you're not a villain. You're one of us now, Harley. And we're not giving you up without a fight. You can bet on that."

Harley gave him a grateful smile. Conner smiled back and gently pushed her bangs out of her face. The noise of someone clearing their throat caused both of them to jump. Nightwing stood motionlessly at the doorway.

"Is...this a bad time? I can come back later if it is." he said.

Conner and Harley stepped away from each other.

"No, it's fine. What's up?" Conner asked.

"I came down to see if Harley could give us a hand, actually." Nightwing replied.

"Well, I only have one to give at the moment," Harley answered, waving her good arm. "what's up?"

Nightwing looked at Conner and seemed to hesitate. He let out a small sigh and turned to Harley.

"Are you still working on becoming a psychiatrist?"

"Yeah, I took some college classes last semester before I left Oregon," Harley tilted her head in confusion. "Why do you-"

"There's way too many runaways for Black Canary to interview." Nightwing said quickly. "You were the only other person I could think of that could help us talk to the kids. And some of them may trust you more if they see you're close to their age."

"Say no more, I'll go! I really wanna get out of here." Harley said, almost bouncing in place. Nightwing let out a slight laugh.

"I figured you'd start feeling cooped up. Let's get going."

"I'll meet you upstairs. I gotta find a vase for these." Harley said, nodding to the flowers. Nightwing eyed the flowers for a moment before walking out of the room.

"I didn't know you wanted to be a psychiatrist." Conner said.

"Yeah, after my dad started going _really_ crazy I decided I wanted to find a way to help him. After the Jason thing happened, I realized there was little hope." Harley dug out an empty pickle jar from under the sink and filled it with water. "But, you know, I figured if I couldn't help him I could help others."

Conner smiled as Harley placed the flowers in the jar and sat it on the table.

"Well, not the prettiest display. But, the flowers are nice!" Harley laughed.

"We'll find a vase later. Good luck with the kids." Conner said.

Harley smiled and began to walk away. She stopped and hesitated. Conner was surprised when she turned around and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks again for the flowers, Conner."

Conner let out a chuckle and ruffled her hair. He watched her jog out of the kitchen and made eye contact with Nightwing. It seemed he'd come back to get Harley but stopped when he saw them together again. Nightwing looked away, jaw tense. Conner shook his head when Nightwing finally left. He sat on the couch and patted Wolf's head. Wolf let out a small whine and looked up at Conner.

"He'll be fine, Wolf." Conner said. "He just needs to figure things out with Harley. She's not gonna wait for him forever."

_~~~"The most interesting information comes from children, for they tell all they know and then stop." -Mark Twain~~~_**  
**

Black Canary sat behind the desk and looked at the boy in front of her. He was staring at her with his arms crossed in front of him.

"Eduardo, I'm here to find out more about the Reach and why they were abducting kids. Do you think you can help me with this?"

"Why? You've already had over a dozen kids in here telling you the same exact story over and over again." Ed snapped. "I ran away, I was abducted and experimented on, now I'm here. What more is there to know?"

"But, you aren't like the other kids, Eduardo. You were one of only two kids that we rescued that had a fully developed metagene from the experiments. We want to understand more about the cause and possibly find a cure if needed." Black Canary explained.

Eduardo looked away and sat silently for a long moment. "We were motivated."

"Motivated how?"

Eduardo let out a large sigh and looked back to her. "You guys got the numbers wrong. There were three of us with fully developed powers. Only two of us made it out of there alive."

"What do you mean by 'made it out alive'?" Black Canary asked, fearing what answer she'd get.

"That Sam girl and I, we were the only ones who got out of there alive with metagenes. I only knew a few things about the other kid who had a metagene, the third one. Like that he told us to call him Danny, his last name was Rhodes or something, and told us to call him a guy." Eduardo explained, waving his hand at Black Canary's confusion. "The kid was really androgynous. Long hair, feminine face, but you could never really tell if he was actually a girl or not."

"What was Danny's metagene?"

Ed paused for a moment. "He could change into different people. He'd practice when the guards weren't looking and when he wasn't being experimented on..."

"Eduardo, what happened to Danny?" Black Canary asked as the boy trailed off. He gave her a pained expression.

"He tried to save us," Eduardo answered sadly. "He'd had this whole plan about how he was going to turn into a guard and find out when we were going to dock next so he could break us out. I still don't know how, but the Reach found out. They just came in one day, beat him up, and dragged him away. That was two weeks before we got rescued. We never saw him again."

Black Canary was speechless for a moment. She honestly wasn't sure how to respond. What do you tell a kid who's been through hell and back when the words "_I'm sorry"_ will never help?

"He was...my friend." Eduardo spoke suddenly. "I didn't know him well, but I still cared about him. I think all of us cared for some other kid that'd been taken there one way or another."

"Is there any way the Reach could have found out his plan?"

Eduardo shook his head. "The only people Danny told were me and Sam. I know I didn't tell anyone and Sam doesn't even speak English. I think Danny knew we had our metagenes activated so he probably just went with to the kids he knew he could relate to, you know?"

Black Canary nodded and motioned for him to continue. Eduardo fiddled with the end of his scarf.

"Sam and I almost blew our covers to save him. But, when we saw them beat him up...I don't know, I guess we got scared." he let out a bitter laugh. "He was our friend and we just stood by as he was beaten and dragged away because we were _scared_. Some heroes we are, huh?"

Black Canary gave him a look a sympathy and stood up.

"Thank you for the information, Ed. I have no further questions."

Ed sighed and began to walk to the door. Black Canary hesitated before resting her hand on his shoulder. Ed looked up in confusion.

"I know you'll be staying at the Star Lab in Taos, but if you ever need to talk to anyone about what happened, I'm here. You don't have to suffer in silence."

Eduardo's brows raised in surprise as he turned away. His hand hovered over the doorknob before he grabbed it.

"I'm going to go see my dad," he looked back at her as he pulled the door closed. "And...thank you."

Black Canary gave him a small smile as he left. As soon as the door was closed, she sat down in her seat with a heavy sigh. This whole situation was looking worse by the minute. And if what Ed said was indeed true, it meant the Reach had no remorse getting rid of the kids that didn't seem useful to them anymore. That fact sent chills down Black Canary's spine.

_~~~"Every human being must find his own way to cope with severe loss, and the only job of a true friend is to facilitate whatever method he chooses." -Caleb Carr~~~_

He was starting to worry at this point. At first he'd just thought Miguel was shaken up by almost drowning on the last mission. And, maybe he was. But, it was clear something else was bugging him.

Hartley slowly walked over to Miguel and put a hand on his shoulder. Miguel looked up and wordlessly handed him a piece of paper. Hartley took it.

"They did a headcount of the kids we rescued," Miguel said quietly. "Not counting Beast Boy, Impulse, Blue Beetle, and a girl who didn't appear on the list at all, all the kids were confirmed runaways."

Hartley looked at the paper and realized it was the list of names Nightwing had given them when he asked them to look into the possibility of abduction. Some of the names on the list had check marks on them but the vast majority had been violently crossed out.

"Why are some of the names crossed out?" Hartley asked.

Miguel ducked his head and ran a hand over his face. "Out of the thirty-six kids that were taken by the Reach, we only rescued sixteen."

Hartley stared at him in shock. He tightened his fist, crumpling the paper in his hand.

"No...no that can't be right." he whispered.

"We checked with the survivors..." Miguel's voice cracked at the word. "Showed them names and faces, most confirmed who never came back after experiments."

Hartley slumped down on the couch next to his boyfriend in shock. Was it possible for the Reach, for _anyone_, hurt or possibly kill all those kids without hesitation? Without guilt or remorse?

"I don't know what I find scarier. The fact that we don't know for sure what happened to these kids or the fact that it could've been prevented." Miguel murmured.

"Prevented? Like, if we had caught the Reach in time?" Hartley asked.

Miguel shook his head. "These kids were runaways. Ones who were actually determined to get away from their homes. You know, kids will threaten to run away from home after a fight with their parents but not a lot go through with it. It makes you wonder how bad their home lives were that they felt like they needed to _leave_ just to get away, that living on the streets is better than being at home. And how many of those kids asked for help that never came?"

Hartley wrapped an arm around Miguel's shoulder and pulled him in for a hug. He held him tighter when he felt Miguel begin to sob. Hartley rubbed his back.

"It scares me. I mean, what if the last thing these kids said to their parents was 'I never want to see you again'? How are the parents going to react when they find out their kids aren't coming home..."

"I know." Hartley said softly. "You don't have to explain."

"We're heroes. We're supposed to _save_ people, not arrive too late." Miguel whispered.

"I understand that better than you think." Hartley said. "When Nightwing told me you almost died...I'll be honest, I thought I'd lost you."

"I thought I was a goner too," Miguel sighed tiredly. "We seriously lucked out with Virgil having electric powers."

Hartley looked down at Miguel and kissed him on the temple. "I love you."

"I love you too, cariño."

"It's weird. I think back to when we first met, when I was still working for the Rogues, and it feels like an eternity ago." Hartley chuckled. "It's weird to think there was a time I didn't know who you were. That's how much of an impact you've had on me."

Miguel smiled slightly and looked at him. "I still remember when we first met. I think for once Wally knew what he was doing."

"Yes, because dragging me kicking and screaming from school to a diner and tricking you into meeting us there was a _brilliant _idea." Hartley snorted.

"Do you regret it?" Miguel laughed.

"Never." Hartley leaned down and kissed his boyfriend on the lips. They sat in silence for a long time after, staring at the crumpled paper on the floor.

"How are we going to tell the parents?" Miguel asked.

"We'll figure it out. For now, we just...let it be." Hartley said, pulling Miguel close.

_~~~"I dreamed a dream in times gone by, when hope was high and life worth living..." -Fantine, "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les Misérables~~~_

Bart walked down the halls slowly. It was early in the morning and he was doing his best not to wake anyone up. The warehouse base had a much different layout than the cave did. As he turned another corner he let out a frustrated sigh. He had no clue where he was going.

"Looking for something?" a voice asked.

Bart turned and saw Harley standing behind him, smiling slightly. Bart stared at her for a moment, a slight pang in his chest. Her smiled reminded him vaguely of his aunt's. Shaking his head, he rubbed the back of his head.

"Um, infirmary? I wanted to check on Jaime."

Harley put her good hand on his shoulder and pointed him to the left. "Go down this hall, take a right, and the infirmary's door is marked with a big red cross. Jaime was awake the last I heard."

Bart let out a breath of relief and smiled at her. "Thanks, Jester!"

"_Harley Quinn_! My name is _Harley Quinn_!" Harley called as Bart sped away.

Bart rounded the corner and paused as he came to the infirmary's door. It was odd, he'd made up his mind already that he would explain to Jaime what the future was really like, yet he was afraid. Afraid of what, exactly? Afraid that Jaime was being controlled by the Reach? Afraid that he wouldn't believe him, or worse he would and reveal that Bart was a liar? It were these thoughts that made him hesitate, that made him think that it may not be a good idea to tell Jaime everything. As he backed away from the door, Bart squeezed his eyes shut.

"Milagro Reyes," he breathed. "Damian Wayne, Haly Grayson, Jackson Hyde, I-Iris West."

Taking a deep breath, Bart pressed open the door. Jaime was sitting up on a bed, watching TV. As soon as he spotted Bart, he muted it.

"Hey, how've you been?"

"I've had better days," Bart said, sitting next to the bed. "But, I've had worse too. Way worse."

They sat in silence. Bart fiddled with the sleeve of his jacket.

"Um," Bart cleared his throat. "Tye should be here later. I know he wanted to see if you were okay."

Bart looked up, expecting to see Jaime look relieved. Instead he just looked even more troubled.

"You said I become the biggest, baddest, big bad in the future." Jaime said slowly. "Is that...is that true?"

Bart looked at him with a pained expression. Jaime let out a strangled sigh and bowed his head. Bart felt his heart go out for the boy. For so long he'd hated him and what he's done, or what he will do. But, seeing him now made Bart realize that maybe it wasn't his choice.

"Do I kill anyone?"

"Jaime, maybe now isn't the best time-"

"Do I kill anyone?" Jaime asked again as he gripped the sheets.

"Yes." Bart said finally. "Some directly, some indirectly. But, you are- the_ Blue Beetle_ is the cause of death among most people, rebels especially."

"Did I kill people you loved?"

Bart looked away. "My whole family. All the people that raised me after my biological parents died were killed either by the Reach or the Blue Beetle."

_"Milagro Reyes, Damian Wayne, Haly Grayson, Jackson Hyde, Iris West."_ he repeated in his head.

Jaime gripped his head and took long, shaky breaths. He looked at Bart and blinked back tears.

"How?" Jaime croaked. "No,_ why_?! Why do I do it?!"

"My family, the people who raised me rather, were heroes. They were trying to start the Justice League up again and take down the Reach. That's probably why." Bart reached out and touched Jaime's shoulder. "But, I'm not letting that happen again. I came back to stop the Reach from taking over. To stop you."

"Are you going to kill me?" Jaime asked numbly.

"No. I wanted to for years, I won't lie. But, I promised Green Lantern I wouldn't do it. She begged me not to before she..." Bart swallowed thickly and shook his head. "Beside, I've started having my doubts that _you're_ Blue Beetle in the future. It's still your body and your scarab but I'm not sure it's_ you_."

Bart pulled his hand back and slowly unzipped his jacket. He could feel Jaime's eyes on him as he pulled his arms out of the sleeves. He heard Jaime suck in a shocked breath at the sight of Bart's exposed and scarred arms.

"I didn't want to freak anyone out, so I try to cover my arms up as much as possible," he traced the scars gently. "Some were from a battle or two. The majority I got when I tried to save..."

Jaime could see how much it pained the younger boy to talk about this. He reached down and put a hand on Bart's arm, doing his best to ignore the harsh flinch from Bart and the slight bump of some of the scars.

"I...I want to know what happens. I feel like if I know, I might be able to prevent it," he looked Bart in the eye. "But, I don't want you to tell me unless you're ready. I don't want you to feel like you have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"No. You need to know." Bart said. "I'll do my best to explain."

Jaime sat up straight and gave Bart his full attention. Bart took a deep breath, pulling at the chain around his neck. Jaime looked at it for a moment, not noticing it before. On the chain was a simple silver ring with a few red and blue stones in it. Jaime could just barely make out an engraving inside that ended with the letters _"I.W"_. Before he could ask about it, Bart began to speak.

"The future is a really messed up place after the Reach takes over." Bart said shakily. "It's not unusual to see people running around trying to find shelter and nobody really bats an eye if someone's killed. You also barely ever saw children. My aunt said it was because things like falling in love, getting married, and having kids were luxuries that few people could afford to have in those days. Living in the open is dangerous, but it's a much better fate than being a slave in the compounds. My mother and father died when I was young and I was taken in by my aunt, her best friend, and their allies."

He looked up to see Jaime trying to understand. Bart let out a slight chuckle.

"Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning, after my aunt rescued me..."


End file.
